Sept. 12 (UPI) — Qatar’s prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, will be at the White House on Friday before a summit between Arab states regarding Israel’s attack on Qatar’s capital city of Doha.
Al-Thani is expected to discuss the strike by Israel and potentially a defense deal between Qatar and the United States.
He is expected to meet with President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and diplomat Steve Witkoff.
Trump was in Doha in May, when the United States and Qatar finalized agreements regarding a letter of intent on defense cooperation between the Qatari Ministry of Defense and U.S. Department of Defense, which included a purchase of both drone systems and drone defense systems, as stated in a press release from the Qatar Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Trump has distanced himself from the Israeli strike, which was intended to target the leadership members of Hamas. White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said on Wednesday that Trump assured the Qatari government that such an attack would never take place again.
The Israeli attack struck a residential compound in Doha and killed six people, including a Qatari security officer.
Qatar has since stressed it would “take all necessary measures to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity” in a statement from the Qatari government.
Other countries in across the Persian Gulf are also concerned and are holding an emergency summit in Doha Sunday in response to Israel’s attack.