Even as key Arab states condemned the war in the Gaza Strip, they quietly expanded security cooperation with the Israeli military, leaked U.S. documents reveal. Those military ties were thrown into crisis after Israel’s September airstrike in Qatar, but could now play a key role in overseeing the nascent ceasefire in Gaza.

Over the past three years, facilitated by the United States, senior military officials from Israel and six Arab countries came together for planning meetings in Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan and Qatar.

Qatar, whose capital was struck on Sept. 9 by Israeli missiles targeting Hamas leaders, was one of the countries that had quietly strengthened ties with the Israeli military. In May 2024. A planning document for the event, written two days before it was set to begin, shows that the Israeli delegation was scheduled to fly directly to the air base, circumventing Qatar’s civilian points of entry that could have risked public exposure.