Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., planned to head to Israel before the Jewish State struck senior-level Hamas officials in Doha, Qatar. (Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images)
So far, Qatari officials have condemned the strike, and the White House has taken a rare step against Israel in the aftermath.
Daines, who is a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, likened Hamas to "a cancer" that Israel needed to eradicate. He put the Jewish State’s situation into perspective of, if the U.S. were in Israel’s position and "1,200 innocent Americans [were] slaughtered by terrorists 40 miles from Washington, D.C.," then the "United States would do everything within its power to eradicate the threat."
"The Israelis, as we've seen, whether it's with Iran or Hezbollah, sometimes doesn't matter where these leaders are," he told Fox News Digital. "They’re going to come after them, not unlike the United States did when we went after Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. We didn't ask Pakistan for permission."
Following the attack, President Donald Trump told reporters that he was "not thrilled" about the situation.
SEN. STEVE DAINES SAYS REGIME CHANGE IS THE BEST LONG-TERM PLAN IN IRAN
Smoke is seen billowing after explosions in Doha's capital of Qatar on Sept. 9, 2025. (Jacqueline Penny/AFPTV/AFP via Getty Images)
Now, his planned trip, where Secretary of State Marco Rubio and U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee are expected to attend, is likely to take a different tenor.
Daines said he had just spoken with the Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. on Monday and hoped that his schedule could line up for a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He also noted that he had yet to see an assessment of the strike, which hit a residential complex in Doha.
When asked if he was worried that the strike could derail ceasefire talks, Daines noted that he had appreciated Qatar’s cooperation and pointed out the U.S. has its largest military base in the Middle East there. But, he added that "Hamas, clearly, is trying to evade the reach of the Israeli government."
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"And as we say, ‘Sometimes you can run, but you can’t hide,’ and Israel had to make a decision, knowing that, like they did with Iran, where they took out military leadership, they took out their nuclear scientists, because they could not allow Iran to get into their bomb," Daines said.
"Similarly, with Hamas, they would have to take out their command and control structure, leadership. And they have a singular mission, and Israel will do what it needs to do to protect herself," he continued.
Fox News Digital reached out to the State Department for comment but did not immediately hear back.
Fox News' Greg Norman contributed to this report.
Alex Miller is a writer for Fox News Digital covering the U.S. Senate.
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