00:00I don't have to do that. I'm just I'm not thrilled about the whole situation. It's not not a good situation. But I will say this. We want the hostages back. But we are not thrilled about the way that went down today.
00:21I'm never surprised by anything, especially when it comes to the Middle East.
00:34I'll be giving a full statement tomorrow, but I will tell you this. I was very unhappy about it. Very unhappy about every aspect. And we got to get the hostages back. But I was very unhappy about the way that went down.
00:49So I think the president is definitely engaging in some damage control.
00:56He clearly understands and hears the anger that Qatar has expressed about Israel's attack.
01:03And I think he's seeking to do what he can to both. Number one, underscore that the U.S. was not did not approve of the attack.
01:11And number two, to try to assuage Qatar's anger so that Qatar will perhaps return to the critical mediating role that it has played.
01:23So the attack really does undermine U.S. credibility in the region, particularly in light of the fact that it was undertaken on Qatar,
01:31which hosts the largest military installation, U.S. military installation in the region.
01:37And so I think with this attack, many in the region are questioning how much they can rely on the United States for its security and how credible the United States is as an interlocutor.
01:48And in particular, how much is the U.S. actually able to restrain Israel?
01:53I do think it's credible that Israel could carry out the attack without prior U.S. agreement.
01:58In fact, we've seen this before. Last April of 2024, Israel undertook an attack against the Iranian consulate in Damascus.
02:08That was undertaken and surprised the United States.
02:12I think the attack will really undermine efforts by the international community, by regional actors to bring the conflict in Gaza to an end.
02:20Unfortunately, it makes the prospect of a ceasefire even more distant.
02:27And rather, I think we are going to see the prolongation of the conflict in Gaza.
02:31It may actually even get bloodier and more violent as Israel contemplates a major operation on Gaza City.
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