In public, Qatar was insisting on the right to defend itself after Iran attacked a U.S. military site in the emirate. Behind the scenes, it was already mediating a truce between Israel and Iran.

Qatar expects that the Israel-Iran ceasefire announced earlier this week will hold, government spokesperson Majed al-Ansari told NewsNation’s Brian Entin on Thursday. “Any ceasefire anywhere in

But that is what happened in the middle of the night on June 23rd, the 12th day of a war between Israel and Iran. Donald Trump announced the end of the war on social media (where else?), saying that the combatants had begged him to make peace.