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What We Know with Max Foster

Israel Targets Hamas Leadership In Qatar Strike; White House: Bombing Qatar Doesn't Advance U.S. Or Israeli Goals; Macron Appoints Sebastien Lecornu As New French PM; Venezuelan FM Speaks About Attack On Purported Drug Boat; Qatari Officials Speak After Israel Targets Hamas Leaders. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired September 09, 2025 - 15:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[15:00:27]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

MAX FOSTER, CNN HOST: Israel attacks Hamas members in Qatar.

I'm Max Foster. This is WHAT WE KNOW.

Criticism pouring in from around the world over Israel's unprecedented strike on Hamas leadership in Qatar, one of the key mediators in Gaza

ceasefire talks.

Hamas says its negotiating team survived that assassination attempt. But it says the son of its chief negotiator was amongst five Hamas members killed.

A Qatari security official was reportedly killed as well. Two Israeli sources say this attack was months in the making.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel executed it alone.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: We take full responsibility for this action and this action can open the door to an end of the war, end

of the war in Gaza. Israel has accepted the principles the proposal put forward by President Trump to end the war, beginning with the immediate

release of all our hostages, which have been held in the dungeons of Gaza for 700 days.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: The top Qatari diplomat says Israels attack was clearly designed to undermine peace efforts.

The White House says president Trump was given advance notice of the strike, but says given the location, the attack does not advance Israeli or

U.S. goals.

Israeli hostage families fear their loved ones held in Gaza could be killed in retribution.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EINAV ZANGAUKER, MOTHER OF HOSTAGE MATAN ZANGAUKER (through translator): I'm trembling with fear. It could be that at this very moment, the prime

minister has essentially executed my Matan, sentenced him to death. Anyone who deliberately decides to endanger my Matan's life is murdering him. Why

is he insisting on blowing up every chance for a deal?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: CNN's Paula Hancocks is in Doha. She joins us on the line.

Paula, when are we going to get more information? Because we've obviously heard from Hamas that actually this was a failed mission in many ways

because the leadership wasn't taken out, according to Hamas.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Well, that's right. That's what we're hearing at this point, Max, that five members were

killed. But as we heard from Israeli security official, it was in fact the main negotiator that they were trying to target, Khalil al-Hayya, as we

understand it at this point, and this is from Hamas itself. His name is not on the list of those that were killed in this attack.

We understand that his son and his bureau director were killed in the attack. So we're waiting to hear more confirmation from Israel as to

whether they consider this to be what they were trying to achieve. Certainly, what they have achieved is provoking fury around this region.

I mean, there is a very strong statement from Qatar. They've called this cowardly. It's a criminal assault. As we've heard from many in this region

and of course, across Europe. They are calling this a blatant violation of international laws and norms.

It is a shocking attack, a shocking strike from Israel. The fact that they would decide to target the country that is one of the key mediators when it

comes to this ceasefire hostage deal and targeting Hamas in a country as well that is a key U.S. ally.

So, there is a huge amount of surprise in this region. And it has been condemned across the board -- Max.

FOSTER: Paula, thank you very much. We'll let you find out what you can from the scene there.

Nada has been looking at all the reaction coming in from across the globe. I mean, it's fierce, isn't it? Particularly in the Middle East, because

actually, a lot of anger towards America as well, because, you know, having a relationship with America was meant to give you security. And a lot of

people in the Middle East don't feel that right now.

NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. We've heard that strong reaction from a lot of regional neighbors, Kuwait, Jordan, Iraq, among

those condemning this attack by Israel on Qatari soil. And, of course, we have to remember that Qatar is home to America's largest military base in

the region. It has a strong and close relationship with the United States.

FOSTER: How can they allow this?

BASHIR: Well, exactly. And there's been many questions around the sort of communications that were taking place around this strike. Weve heard from

Qatari officials denying that there was any sort of prior warning from the United States. We know that there was later on a call we heard from the

White House press secretary saying that Steve Witkoff was actually the special envoy for the Middle East, was directed to speak with Qatari

officials.

[15:05:06]

FOSTER: The Israeli military told the American military, she said, and the American military told the White House who told the emir, is that right?

BASHIR: That's what we understand at this stage. But we have just had that statement from Qatari officials saying that any suggestion, any report,

that there was any sort of prior warning is, in their words, baseless. They said specifically, communication was received from one of the American

officials during the sound of explosions resulting from an Israeli attack.

FOSTER: But this is what a crucial ally to the U.S.

BASHIR: Absolutely. And of course, important to note that Qatar is the key mediator here, someone that the U.S. has relied on heavily to mediate those

ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas. And, you know, we've been hearing from President Trump over the last few days, really ramping up

those warnings against Hamas. Also striking a tone of optimism around the possibility of actually being able to secure a ceasefire deal on his watch.

But if anything, this has really raised concerns about any hopes for negotiations going forward.

FOSTER: We heard from one of those relatives of the hostages. I mean, you can only imagine what's going through their minds.

BASHIR: Huge amount of concern from family members, relatives of those hostages with regards to what this could mean for their loved ones still

held captive in Gaza. Of course, whether or not there are any sort of repercussions, perhaps revenge attacks carried out by Hamas. And of course,

there's also concern around what this means for Gaza as well, potentially opening the floodgates for an even more intensified attack on Gaza City by

the Israeli military. Given that that was one of the key tenets of that ceasefire proposal on the table.

FOSTER: Nada, thank you.

Now to talking about how the White House is speaking about this advance notice that the U.S. got about the strike in Qatar. Let's hear the press

secretary, Karoline Leavitt.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Unilaterally bombing inside Qatar, a sovereign nation in close ally of the United States that is

working very hard and bravely taking risks with us to broker peace, does not advance Israel or Americas goals. However, eliminating Hamas, who have

profited off the misery of those living in Gaza, is a worthy goal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Kristen Holmes is at the White House.

You're used to hearing these briefings. I mean, interpret that. Is Donald Trump really furious with Israel here? Just explain what the vibe is?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, it certainly doesn't seem as though he's happy with what happened. I mean, this was

incredibly carefully worded statement. You can tell that they passed through every single one of these words.

Just to give some context here. At one point, you heard her talk about this. She says that they were made aware that Israel was attacking. She's -

- the reason I'm pointing that out is because of the verb there, attacking, as though it was ongoing.

Now, later she says that the U.S. or that the administration was given information from the U.S. military before the attack, but clearly made it

sound as though it was right before the attack happened. And you can hear her talk about how President Trump does not believe that this aligns with

their objectives and with their goals. But in addition to all of that, we should note two very important things.

One is that in this statement, Leavitt says that Trump told Witkoff to inform the Qataris that this was happening. Obviously, we've seen the

pushback, the Qataris saying that they did not have any kind of heads up until the bombing was actually going on, or the strikes were actually going

on.

But Witkoff and President Trump separately, both have very deep ties to the Qataris. It is Witkoff had worked with the Qataris for years, even before

he took on this job as Middle East envoy.

We also know that the Qataris have really been instrumental in helping with a lot of various negotiations across the globe, helping the United States,

which Leavitt made clear in this statement as well. It certainly does not sound as though Trump was supportive or even backed at all. This -- these

bombing.

Now, we're trying to get a readout because later the press secretary said that after the strikes, president Trump spoke to Netanyahu. They called the

location of the strikes unfortunate, but it certainly doesn't sound like one, there was enough of a heads up there from the Israelis to the U.S.

military, that the U.S. was able to push back.

And now with this statement, of course, we're waiting for more details. But now with this statement, it certainly doesn't sound as though the White

House was supportive of this move. And it does lead to bigger questions as to what actually happens now with the relationship between Washington and

the Qataris. Are they going to continue to help with these negotiations? And that is something that the White House had leaned heavily on.

So that -- goes to why this carefully worded statement, you know, expresses some disbelief, some unhappiness with Netanyahu as they try to talk about

what happened and how the events unfolded.

[15:10:02]

FOSTER: Kristen, from the White House, thank you.

Several global leaders condemning the Israeli attack on Doha, the United Arab Emirates, one of the key Arab countries to sign a peace agreement with

Israel in 2020, says it stands with Qatar and calls the Israeli strike treacherous.

So, what we want to know is what did Israels strikes in Qatar actually achieve?

Joining me now, Mehran Kamrava, a professor of government at Georgetown University in Qatar, the Qatar campus.

Thank you so much for joining us.

I mean, because you're there, I just wanted to ask you, first of all, did you ever imagine a strike like this on what was meant to be neutral ground

during peace negotiations?

MEHRAN KAMRAVA, GOVERNMENT PROFESSOR, GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY IN QATAR: I never did. And I don't think anyone else did. In fact, as it just so

happened, I was teaching this afternoon a course on the politics of the Persian Gulf, and we were indeed talking about Iran's missile attack on Al

Udeid. And then we heard these loud booms in class, and we all joked that maybe the Iranians were attacking again. And kind of or we made light of

that.

But, we never thought that it would be Israel that would attack -- would be attacking a country like Qatar. And then, of course, after the class was

over, we all came out of the classroom and saw shocked looks on everyone's faces. And of course, we all joined them.

So, it was the furthest thing from anyone's mind that Israel would attack a country like Qatar.

FOSTER: Just explain to us the diplomatic damage that's been done here?

KAMRAVA: The damage is incalculable. As you know, and as you've been reporting, Qatar and the United States, particularly this White House, have

been drawing increasingly closer together over the last several months. In fact, as you know, the Qatari emir gifted Donald Trump his personal plane.

And so, it was assumed that the alliance was ironclad.

Qatar is also a major non-NATO ally of the United States, and it is engaged in massive military purchases from the U.S. So the breach of trust between

the United States and Qatar and the diplomatic fallout from this is bound to be significant.

I think it's also important to mention that countries like Italy, Germany everyone else have condemned this Israeli attack, but in rather tepid

terms. No one has really come out and, condemned violation of Qatar's sovereignty. And it's only been there have been dancing around

diplomatically and using, diplomatic jargon to get around an actual condemnation.

So, I think for Israel's erstwhile allies, the damage is something that is minimal, but certainly for the countries here in the Persian Gulf, Qatar,

United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, I'm sure they're feeling deeply betrayed and vulnerable now that if this could happen to a country like

Qatar, it could happen anywhere.

FOSTER: Well, exactly, because of the U.S. interests, there. And other countries in the region now questioning whether or not that relationship

with America, which was all about security guarantees, effectively, right, just isn't there anymore. I mean, what's the point in allying with America

away from the economic benefits, I guess?

KAMRAVA: Yes. That's partly true, but I think the Qataris are smart to realize that once again, Donald Trump was played by Benjamin Netanyahu and

that if Trump could have had his way, he would have given the right timing, he would have vetoed this attack. But he was faced with a situation where

he didn't have an option.

And so, I think, once again, what we see is very cleverly, Netanyahu forcing Trump's hand. And really, in many ways furthering his own agenda,

his own political career at the expense of the interests of the United States.

FOSTER: Okay. Mehran Kamrava, thank you very much indeed. What a day for you. And I'm glad everyone's okay.

Still to come, French President Emmanuel Macron looks to steer the country out of a worsening political crisis. Can he do it? Details ahead on his new

prime minister.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: Hours after Francois Bayrou resigned, France now has a new prime minister. French President Emmanuel Macron has appointed Defense Minister

Sebastien Lecornu to take on the role in an effort to prevent the country from plunging further into political paralysis. This is the fifth prime

minister in less than two years for Macron. Public trust in the political class collapsing nationwide protests planned for Wednesday. Unions are

planning to strike later this month.

What we don't know is how long will France's new prime minister last?

Melissa might know. She's got a best chance of knowing in this space, anyway. What do you think, Melissa?

MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Max, it's difficult to say at this stage.

I mean, certainly, the fact that Emmanuel Macron has gone for a loyalist, someone from his political center. This is Sebastien Lecornu, a man who

left the traditional right. The right-wing mainstream parties that had dominated French politics for so long and then served as a minister from

2017, really considered an ally of the president's. There are questions about how that's going to go down, not only with the people who are taking

to the streets tomorrow to try and block the country. There's a great deal of anger and resentment about Emmanuel Macron's policies over the course of

the last few years, and specifically the chaos of the last more than a year now, ever since parliament was dissolved.

There's also a great deal of anger, especially from the left here in France, about the fact that in the wake of those snap elections that were

called in 2024, it was not a prime minister taken from the political left that was able to govern. Three successive prime ministers, taken from the

center and now a fourth.

Still, if the decision has been made and we understand that the change of power, the transfer of power from Francois Bayrou to Sebastien Lecornu will

happen tomorrow afternoon, even as the streets are protesting government policy. By the way, we understand that they believe that they can cobble

together some kind of working government who will then have this very daunting task that has taken down so many prime ministers before of trying

to get parliamentary support, or at least not parliamentary opposition, for what will be inevitably big budget cuts as they try and pass the budget by

the end of the year.

[15:20:15]

So, Emmanuel Macron, placing his faith in an ally at a time when there is a great deal of anger at him, not just from the street, but of course from

parliamentarians themselves. And I don't just mean the far and the far left. There's a great deal of disappointment on the left about this

appointment. There had been hopes it might come from their ranks. In fact, no.

So, we'll have to see whether he succeeds to get together the mainstream, the middle part of French politics, at least because he will need that just

arithmetically in terms of the parliamentary support to get through these very difficult measures, Max.

FOSTER: It was a gamble taking a centrist. Won't the left and the right just conspire to just get rid of him straight away?

BELL: It's -- it's a great question, and there are, remember, these local elections looming in 2026, when both those mainstream right and left

parties, the socialists, for instance, on the left, will be trying to field candidates. And it could be that too much proximity or working closely with

a president who's become so deeply unpopular might be considered dangerous for them at this particular stage in terms of the local candidates they

hope to field, or indeed they will decide to work with him for now.

There's been a great deal of grumbling about the fact that this Macronist ally is to become the new prime minister, and so far, the three that have

tried from the center to cobble together this consensus in the political middle have failed. So many questions about whether Sebastien Lecornu will

be any more successful than his predecessors, at a time when not just the clock is ticking, were looking ahead on, Max, on Friday to the credit

ratings agency Fitch, and whether it will downgrade France.

There are already these very high borrowing costs. There is already this looming budget crisis, and there is this political disarray in France's

parliament that were reminded of yesterday. And all this heckling at Francois Bayrou as he made a last ditch plea to the MPs.

So, it's a difficult time that Sebastien Lecornu takes over a very young, by the way, just 39, a staunch ally of Macron at a time when President

Macron is not a very popular man in a great deal of the political formations represented in the national assembly.

FOSTER: Yeah, well, he's a brave man, isn't he? Young and brave.

Melissa, thank you very much indeed for joining us.

BELL: Certainly, that.

FOSTER: Returning now to Israels strike on Hamas members in Doha, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the war in Gaza could end

immediately if Hamas accepts a U.S.- backed ceasefire proposal.

Netanyahu made those remarks a short while ago during a news conference on the Israeli strike in Doha. A Qatari official says Israels attack was

designed to derail Gaza peace negotiations. This is Israel orders a complete evacuation of Gaza City with Prime Minister Netanyahu warning this

is only the beginning. The IDF has been targeting high rise buildings in the area, despite widespread global opposition to the controversial

military takeover.

Our Jeremy Diamond is in Jerusalem.

And the determination that Netanyahu is showing right now is quite extraordinary, Jeremy.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Without a doubt about it, the Israeli prime minister insisting that he always promised he was going to

target and take out all of Hamas's leaders who he deems responsible for the October 7th massacre in Israel. And today, he said, Israel and I have kept

that promise.

But, Max, it may have been a bit of a premature victory lap from the Israeli prime minister as Hamas has come out and stated that this Israeli

attempt to kill all of its senior leaders in the Qatari capital, that this assassination attempt failed. Hamas, saying that Israel killed five

individuals, including the son of Hamas's chief negotiator, Khalil al- Hayya, but that Israel failed to kill al-Hayya or any of the other senior Hamas leaders whom the Israelis have said they were targeting.

The question now is what will the ramifications of all of this be going forward on the cease fire and hostage release negotiations, even if Hamas's

chief negotiator has not been killed in this effort, there's no question that this will damage efforts to advance a cease fire and hostage release

deal, at least in the short term, if not only because the key mediator in those negotiations, Qatar, has seen its sovereignty now violated and is

expressing a deep, deep frustration and criticism of the Israeli government, saying that this was not only a violation of international law,

but that this was an attempt to derail the ceasefire and hostage release negotiations.

We're also hearing from a number of other countries, from Europe to the Middle East, all of them nearly unanimous in their condemnation of Israel's

decision to strike on Qatari soil. We have also heard, of course, from the White House press secretary, who made clear that while the White House does

not believe that a strike in Qatar advances, anyone's interests, she said that striking Hamas leaders certainly does.

[15:25:12]

And so neither full condemnation nor full praise here. But she did say that President Trump assured Qatari leaders this would not happen again, raising

questions if the Israelis try again, given that Hamas says this strike failed -- Max.

FOSTER: Okay, Jeremy, thank you for joining us.

Now, one big question. What does this attack mean for the fate of the remaining hostages in Gaza? The brother of one of the hostages told CNN's

Wolf Blitzer he's worried.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ILAY DAVID, BROTHER OF HOSTAGE IN GAZA: We're very worried, very, very worried. We don't know who will be now negotiating with Israel about the

remaining hostages. The hostages suffering there, I believe that taking military actions on Hamas leaders can wait. And right now, what we need to

be focused on is saving the hostages.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Joining us now, Alon Pinkas, he's the former Israeli consul general. And, you know, your heart really does go out to those hostage

families today because they do look more vulnerable, right?

ALON PINKAS, FORMER ISRAELI CONSUL GENERAL IN NEW YORK: They are vulnerable because they've been played by Mr. Netanyahu the same way that

Donald Trump has been played by Mr. Netanyahu, the same way, by the way that Qatar has been played by Mr. Netanyahu.

And no one understands what he's gaining, what Israel is gaining by manipulating and playing everyone here. But my heart -- my heart goes out

to these families because they have been on a indescribable roller coaster of emotion and distress and dejection. I can't even begin to imagine what

they're going through right now.

FOSTER: Netanyahu saying he is still interested in peace. Have a word to what you said a bit earlier on.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NETANYAHU: On this day, as in previous days, Israel acted wholly, independently, wholly independently, and we take full responsibility for

this action. And this action can open the door to an end of the war -- end of the war in Gaza. Israel has accepted the principles the proposal put

forward by President Trump to end the war, beginning with the immediate release of all our hostages, which have been held in the dungeons of Gaza

for 700 days. If President Trump's proposal is accepted, the war can end immediately.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: He's talking about negotiating but with the team that he tried to take out that day on neutral ground.

PINKAS: Yeah, I think you have to put this in context. He's saying this because he knows that Trump is probably livid at what happened today. He's

saying this because he's afraid that Trump is going to -- and I'm not saying it will happen. I'm just saying, hypothetically, if Trump picks up

the phone, then the war ends. Trump hasn't done that until now, but Netanyahu is trying to preempt that by saying, oh, he's ready to end the

war, and he's taking responsibility.

That's -- that's pretty rich coming from someone who did not take responsibility since October 7th, 2023.

And you know what, Max? There are three things. You know, we talk about what happened in Qatar, and we all talk about the implications and

consequences and how this will affect the war. There are three things we don't know. What exactly did the U.S. know and when did it know it? We

don't know. There are conflicting messages coming out of Washington.

The second issue is, if these people deserve to die, which I think they did, by the way, even though apparently they're not dead. But even -- why

have -- why hasn't this been done on October 7th, 2023? And since? Why now if not to derail these talks?

And the third issue is what exactly happened there? We don't know yet who lived and who died, and that leads to another issue that, again, we still

don't know about. That's the third one.

There are reports that both the IDF, the Israel Defense Forces chief of staff, Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir and the head of the Mossads, David

Barnea, both opposed this attack. Now, if they opposed the attack and only Netanyahu supported it, and Trump did not know about it in real time, you

do the math.

I don't want -- I would not want to be next to Trump in the next few hours when the name Netanyahu is mentioned.

FOSTER: But where's the breaking point for him?

PINKAS: You would imagine that this is it. But I don't know. It seems as if he's been, you know, sometimes oblivious, sometimes indifferent,

sometimes aloof, somewhat sometimes detached.

[15:30:01]

Then he finds different things to do. He goes to Ukraine and then he annexes Greenland, and he imposes tariffs, and he sends ICE to the streets

of Washington.

He always has something else to do. But if you look at the last six months, paved with the best of intentions, and I believe he wanted this to happen,

Trump, that is President Trump, that is, he's been conned. He's been manipulated. There's no question about it.

And you would imagine per your question, Max, that this would be the breaking point and one phone call is all it takes if he calls Mr. Netanyahu

tomorrow and says, my friend, I've backed you. I've supported you, I have defended you. I've been criticized and isolated domestically and

internationally for doing so. But I stand by what I did.

But you did not live up to your promises. So here's the thing. You have 24 hours, 48 hours to end this war, or there will be consequences. Not to

specify the consequences.

If he does that, Max, the war ends in 48 hours. Will he do that? I don't know.

FOSTER: Well, that would be big news, Alon. We'll see what happens. Thank you so much for joining us.

PINKAS: It would be big news.

FOSTER: We'll have more coverage of Israel's strikes in Doha after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: Hamas says five of its members were killed in an Israeli strike in Doha today, as well as a Qatari security official. But it says it's

negotiating team involved in Gaza ceasefire efforts survived.

A top Qatari diplomat in Washington says Israels attack was clearly designed to undermine peace efforts.

[15:35:01]

Israel says it's settling accounts with the perpetrators of October 7th.

Let's go straight to Kylie Atwood.

Kylie, thank you for joining us. I mean, there is a bit of debate about when America knew, when it told Qatar. Qatar being very clear that it

wasn't given any prior warning.

What do you understand?

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN U.S. SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. That's right. We still don't know exactly how the U.S. military found out that this strike

was set to occur, but what White House press secretary said in the last hour is that it was the U.S. military that notified the Trump

administration that this forthcoming Israeli strike was going to go ahead in Doha, and then it was President Trump who told Witkoff to alert the

Qataris.

So, the Qataris are saying that they only got that call from Witkoff when the strike was effectively already underway. So, we don't know if the U.S.

military found out that this was coming from the Israelis. A tip from the Israelis in advance, or if it was based on the movements that they were

seeing, the military movements in the region. We'll continue to report that out.

But it is critical to key in on the U.S.-Qatari relationship here. As you were saying, a senior diplomat based here in Washington said to Trump

administration officials and members of congress in a statement today that this strike from Israel was effectively, in their eyes, an effort to

undermine those negotiations to try and end the war in Gaza. We also heard from Iran's foreign minister saying that this was a cowardly strike.

And I don't think that it is safe to say that we know the full extent of what this strike will have done to the U.S.-Qatari relationship. It's clear

that the White House is trying to maintain that relationship. They wanted it to be known publicly that President Trump wanted his special envoy,

Steve Witkoff, to give the Qataris a call in advance of this strike.

But the Qataris are clearly very frustrated here. They didn't know very far in advance at least that this was coming. And they believe that it

undermines their sovereignty and also the role that they have been playing, the central role that they have been playing to try and get both sides, the

Israelis and Hamas, to come to a deal here over the last few years to end this war.

FOSTER: Kylie, thank you so much.

The Israeli strike in Qatar involved more than 10 fighter jets we're told. That's according to an Israeli official who says they all struck a single

target in the capital. Two Israeli sources tell CNN the operation was months in the making.

Joining us now, CNN military analyst and retired Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton.

Thank you, Cedric, for joining us. Taking all of that, it does seem extraordinary that they missed.

CEDRIC LEIGHTON, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yeah. In many ways that's true, Max. But it also shows us is that there are certain problems with

intelligence in places like this, because not that Qatar is a denied area to Israeli intelligence, because they are clearly active there. But the

fact that they were trying to get at Hamas senior leadership, this is often a game of inches. And if you don't calculate it right, have a little bit of

luck. There is a very good chance that even the best prepared operations can go wrong, and this may be the case in this situation as well.

FOSTER: So what -- I mean, is -- Israel seems to be paying a huge price. They didn't get the leadership team they were after. They've, you know, as

would be expected caused a huge amount of upset and questioning amongst neighbors in the Middle East.

But they've also apparently upset the president of the U.S., which is one person they don't want to upset because he seems to be pretty caught out by

this. And there's a suggestion coming from the region we've heard during the show that he's been played by Netanyahu. I mean, what do you think?

LEIGHTON: Yeah. Max, I think it's very clear that the president of the United States has in essence, fallen victim to some of the things that

others have fallen victim to when it comes to Prime Minister Netanyahu. And by that, what I mean is that he is, in some ways, President Trump was

blindly following a lot of what Netanyahu was telling him.

In this situation where you have a strike like this, you have a possibility of many things going wrong, and it's pretty clear that our team here in

Washington has not really done the calculations to determine what the possible after effects, the cascading effects of something like this might

be. I -- had they had some advance warning of a possible strike like this, they should have done everything in their power to prevent it because the

last thing you want is for your negotiations, and the efforts that you make with partner nations to come undone.

And that's what we're seeing here. I think the risk is very high that the Qataris pull out of mediation roles here. And if they do pull out of

mediation roles, that's going to really weaken our ability in the United States to influence events in the Middle East, especially with both Hamas

and with Israel. And that is going to cause significant problems.

FOSTER: A lot of the countries in the Middle East, Qatar, one of them, you know, one of the key parts of the relationship with the U.S. is that

security guarantee that effectively comes with having a big base on your land, for example. But doesn't this show that, you know, it's not 100

percent that guarantee actually. They are -- there's always a potential that they could allow your country to be invaded.

LEIGHTON : Yeah. Or at least attacked. And in this case, Max, what you're seeing is the fact that the Israelis basically seem to have acted with

impunity that causes problems, you know, obviously from an international legal standpoint, the sovereignty of Qatar has clearly been violated in

this particular case.

And then you have, like you mentioned, the big military bases like Al Udeid air base, a place where I've been a few times, that is a base that is

critical to U.S. efforts in the Middle East, especially when it comes to dealing with Iran and, you know, potentially with other countries in the

area, it becomes a critical element in the projection of U.S. power.

And if the Qatari platform for the projection of that power is not continued to be made available to the United States, then, the U.S. will

lose a lot of influence and it will open things up to actors that are not in concert with U.S. interests. And that could provide you know, for a very

different situation in the Middle East, one that the United States and the western world will probably not welcome.

FOSTER: Colonel Cedric Leighton, as ever, thank you so much for your thoughts on that.

LEIGHTON: You bet, Max.

FOSTER: Still ahead, CNN speaks to a top official from Venezuela over a U.S. Navy attack on one of its ships. Was it a drug ship? We'll have his

comments.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:45:17]

FOSTER: Venezuelan officials are speaking out about the U.S. Navy attack on a boat that the Trump administration claims is carrying drugs in the

Caribbean. President Nicolas Maduro says the truth will emerge from video of the incident, which Donald Trump shared on social media. Maduro says the

video is an embarrassment for those who released it.

CNN contributor Stefano Pozzebon spoke exclusively with Venezuela's foreign minister, who says the country is not seeking a military confrontation with

the United States.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: The Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil sat down for an exclusive interview with CNN at a moment where tensions

are rising between Washington and Caracas, with at least seven U.S. warships stationed in the southern Caribbean, allegedly to stem off drug

trafficking.

The White House accuses the Venezuelan president, Nicolas Maduro, of being personally involved with cocaine trafficking. At the same time, it's worth

noting that reports from both the United Nations and the Drug Enforcement Administration confirmed that Venezuela is not a major drug producing

country, nor a trafficking hotspot.

Here is what the foreign minister told us over the prospects of open warfare.

YVAN GIL, VENEZUELAN FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): We trust that will not happen. Our first line of defense is diplomatic dialog to contain,

to avoid these conflicts between us. Right now, we are sure that common sense will prevail.

POZZEBON: President Trump on I think it was Friday or Saturday. He said he's not interested in a regime change in Caracas. He said that he wants to

go after Nicolas Maduro, who is personally, according to the United States, involved in narco trafficking.

Can you imagine a Chavista Venezuela, a revolutionary Venezuela without Maduro in the near future?

GIL: President Maduro is the leader of our revolution. Clearly, he has, let's say, a major influence over the Venezuelan people, the Chavistas

ranks and the revolutionary ranks across Venezuela.

However, our Bolivarian revolution stands on its own feet.

POZZEBON: One of the most controversial episodes of this confrontation took place last week, when the U.S. Department of Defense announced that it

took out a speedboat allegedly carrying Venezuelan drug traffickers and cocaine into the Caribbean Sea. Caracas denounced this incident as a

violation of international law.

GIL: We can't explain this, and we should ask the U.S. military, how can they degrade themselves by using destructive technology against a

defenseless boat?

POZZEBON: Are you calling for an international investigation into that incident?

GIL: We have seen a whole story of violations of international laws, protocols of engagement, the very same protocols of the U.S. Coast Guard

and of the U.S. Armed Forces that are being violated.

POZZEBON: We've also covered the many allegations against -- about violations of human rights here in Venezuela, from this government, against

the Venezuelan population.

GIL: Okay. But we are part of the Human Rights Council, and yet we disagree on how they acted here with a double standard.

POZZEBON: There are no violations of human rights in Venezuela.

GIL: Look, in Venezuela we have exemplary behavior.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Coming out of that was the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs is holding a press conference on that strike in Doha.

MOHAMMED BIN ABDULRAHMAN AL THANI, QATARI FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): For the martyr who died from this security and for all the

martyrs. Qatar confirms that (INAUDIBLE) regarding their sovereignty, they will deal with it. And they have the right to respond to this attack, and

they will take all the necessary procedures. And his highness' instructions are clear that the security of our citizens are important.

And starting from tomorrow, we will take all the procedures under the guidance of Muhammad al Wahaisi (ph) to respond to this attack, which is on

unwise behavior.

[15:50:06]

The Israeli attack which took place today against Qatar, we can't call it anything other than the state terrorism by Netanyahu against the people --

the security into the region. And this is a very clear message to the whole region. And the message is, there is one layer who can do who -- thinks

they can do whatever they want, Netanyahu said that he want to remake the Middle East. Does that mean that he also wants to remake the Gulf area?

We believe that today, we have reached a very critical moment that the whole region has to act with all these irrational behaviors that only

reflect that person (ph), and that he doesn't even -- you can't reform him or improve him, or to work with him, according to the international laws.

This attack -- the targeting that took place is also exceeded not only breaking the international laws, but also the moral principles. We are

talking about a state that's hosting the negotiation with a formal mediation position. And those rockets were sent to attack the negotiators

from the other side. According to what moral principles could this be acceptable?

We can't call what happened other than this. It's treason. And we are surprised that such an act. It's a systematic act from a person who claimed

to be trying to reach stability in the region. But he is only dealing -- trying to make more trouble for his own personal interests. We are in these

the last few days, the negotiations were going on and it was with the involvement of the American side and according to the suggestions that we

see from the Americans, and despite that, the Israeli who used to come frequently to Doha, they sabotaged any efforts to achieve peace.

Does the world need a clearer message than this? Who is stopping the peace? Does the international community need any more explanation of who is the

bully in the area?

History will record what happened and this attack and international laws will take into consideration such an incident because we're doing something

that violated the sovereignty of a state carelessly, without any care, this -- we can't look away from what happened. We should take the necessary

procedures against what happened.

We are working with all the friendly nations and the brotherly nations to take the necessary actions against this attack, and we will announce all

the procedures that we will take.

REPORTER: First, the question from al Jazeera, al Jazeera, hello. The question that comes to the mind.

[15:55:01]

Were you aware about this attack?

AL THANI: There were some statements that we were (INAUDIBLE) from the American about the attack. But they actually gave the statement after the

attack, 10 minutes after it happened, because they just had received the information about it. According to the air force, you all see how we all

try to respond to the rockets and we handled with the precisions.

But unfortunately, the Israeli enemy has used weapons -- weapons that our radars didn't get.

REPORTER: That's the kind of question. It has been circulated on social media.

AL-THANI: The leaders were saved because there was a notification, the attack was a surprise 100 percent, and we didn't know of it until it

happened.

And all the information that's being circulated and the rumors that Netanyahu is spreading is not -- is baseless.

REPORTER: Another question from the "Associated Press".

My question is, after this attack and the circumstances and the situation that we're living in Doha, like everybody is shocked for what's happened

today.

But again, what is the role that Qatar will do after the Israeli escalation in this region? And what is the effect on the truce deal or the hostage

deal and the talks with Hamas and other -- especially Qatar, is not playing one role in the region, it's working, playing many different roles in this

-- in this area?

AL THANI: I'm sorry if you are talking specifically about the talks on Gaza, Qatar has spared no effort in order to stop this war and will do

whatever it can to stop this war, to stop this hostility on Gaza. Now when it comes to the current talks, I don't think there is something valid right

now while after we see such an attack happening like this.

REPORTER: So, al Jazeera English. (INAUDIBLE) from Al Jazeera English.

Sir, has there been any communication between Qatar and the U.S. prior to the attacks, or has there been any warning from the United States conveyed

to Qatari officials or based on the information, has there been any verbal of the United States with the -- with the knowledge?

AL THANI: We had -- we had a very -- first of all, the first part of your question, I have just answered it. The attack happened at 3:46. The first

call we had from an American official was at 3:56, which is 10 minutes after the attack.

And after that, President Trump has spoken with his highness, the emir. He condemned the attack. And the U.S. government position that they have no

knowledge about the attack, nor any coordination about it until it started to happen. Now, when they got the alert, when the alert has reached us,

that's an information that I don't know right now.

What I know that the official channels that we have with the U.S. got notified by the U.S. after the attack by with 10 minutes.

REPORTER: Al Sharq newspaper from Qatar. First of all, we wish safety to all Qataris. In regards to the Qatari policies after this attack, while you

are doing the mediation effort, would this affect Qatar in their policies?

AL THANI: First of all I would like to explain the clarify that the Qatari diplomacy was not built according to the Israeli actions or according to

one side.

END

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