President Donald Trump claimed Wednesday night that the U.S. was completely unaware of Israeli strikes on a large gas field jointly owned by Iran and Qatar.
In less than a month, Operation Epic Fury has roiled the global energy market, driving gas prices to their highest levels since 2023 and pushing liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices up more than 50% worldwide. Trump has repeatedly stated his wish to “hold off” on striking infrastructure because “it would take years to rebuild.”
Evidently, according to Trump, Israel has not followed suit.
QatarEnergy Statement on Missile Attacks on its LNG Facilities
In addition to the previous attack on Ras Laffan Industrial City on Wednesday 18 March 2026 that resulted in extensive damage to the Pearl GTL (Gas-to-Liquids) facility, QatarEnergy confirms that in the early hours…
— QatarEnergy (@qatarenergy) March 19, 2026
QatarEnergy, a state-owned Qatari petroleum company, released a statement on X confirming strikes on several LNG facilities early Thursday morning. Another QatarEnergy facility, Ras Laffan Industrial City, was previously attacked by Iran.
Minutes after the company’s X post, Trump confirmed the strikes were carried out by Israel in a Truth Social post. The president claimed the nation “violently lashed out” in anger, striking the South Pars Gas Field in southern Iran. The South Pars Gas Field is the largest natural gas field in the world, covering nearly 10,000 square miles and alone producing 9% of the world’s natural gas.
Trump said the U.S. “knew nothing about this particular attack” and that Qatar was “in no way, shape, or form, involved with it.” The president added, “NO MORE ATTACKS WILL BE MADE BY ISRAEL,” going on to threaten to “massively blow up the entirety of the South Pars Gas Field” if Iran were to attack Qatar in the future.
Despite Trump’s claim to be unaware of the attack, Axios global affairs correspondent Barak Ravid claimed the attack was in fact approved by the United States, citing senior U.S. and Israeli officials.
Contrary to Trump’s statements, senior Israeli and U.S. officials said that the United States had prior knowledge of the Israeli strike and even approved it in an attempt to pressure Iran. After the Iranians retaliated against Qatar’s gas fields, Trump is now changing course https://t.co/V1TTCJQf66
— Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) March 19, 2026
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Ravid wrote in an X post Wednesday night that “senior Israeli and U.S. officials said that the United States had prior knowledge of the Israeli strike and even approved it in an attempt to pressure Iran.”
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