ISLAMABAD: The Israeli military says , it attacked Hamas leaders in Qatar’s Doha while Spokesperson for Qatar’s foreign ministry slams ‘criminal’ Israeli attack, condemns it ‘in the strongest terms’. Israelis say, explosions seen and heard in the Qatari capital, Doha, are the result of an assassination attempt against Hamas leaders.
Tuesday’s attack is the first by Israel in Qatar, a key mediator in ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas and home to the region’s largest United States military base, Al Udeid Air Base. Israel has been bombarding Gaza, Lebanon, Yemen and Syria as well as carrying out daily attacks in the occupied West Bank in Palestine.
Israel initiated it, conducted it and takes full responsibility, the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu posted on social media. He called it a wholly independent Israeli operation, reacting perhaps to Israeli media reports that Washington may have been informed and have given a green light.
A Hamas source told Al Jazeera that the attack in Doha targeted the Hamas negotiating team. The attack came as the negotiators were meeting to consider the latest ceasefire proposal put forth by the US.
In Doha, the Qatari government reacted with fury, calling the attack reckless and cowardly, and a blatant violation of all international laws and norms. Similar statements of outrage came from across the Arab world. The strike came just two days after the Trump administration announced its latest, somewhat sketchy proposals to end the war in Gaza.
The Israeli military released a statement saying it and the Shin Bet intelligence service “recently carried out a targeted attack on the top leadership of the Hamas terrorist organization”.
“The members of the leadership who were attacked led the terrorist organization’s activities for years, and are directly responsible for carrying out the October 7 massacre and waging the war against the State of Israel”, it added, referring to the Hamas-led attacks in southern Israel on October 7, 2023.
The statement said that before the attack, “steps were taken to minimize harm to uninvolved people, including the use of precision weapons and additional intelligence information.”
In a statement, Majed al-Ansari, spokesperson for Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said the country “condemns in the strongest terms” the attack, which he said was carried out on residential buildings housing several members of the Hamas political bureau.
“This criminal attack constitutes a flagrant violation of all international laws and norms and a serious threat to the security and safety of Qataris and residents of Qatar,” the statement said.
Qatar’s interior ministry has confirmed that the explosions heard in Doha were targeting “one of the residential headquarters of Hamas”. The ministry adds that the situation is now safe with specialised teams carrying out the necessary tasks.
A senior Israeli official tells Israeli media that the Hamas members targeted included Khalil al-Hayya, the chief negotiator and exiled Gaza leader, and Zaher Jabarin, the exiled West Bank leader.
“We are awaiting the results of the strike. There is a consensus among the political and security leadership,” the official adds.
On Monday, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz had warned Hamas leaders living abroad that they faced “annihilation” and Gaza would be destroyed if the group did not release its hostages and lay down its arms.
On Sunday, Hamas said it welcomed “some ideas” from the US about how to reach a Gaza ceasefire agreement that it received through mediators. It said it was in discussion about how to turn them “into a comprehensive agreement that meets the needs of our people”.
Yesterday, Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar indicated that his country is in agreement with the US proposal for ending the war, while US President Donald Trump gave Hamas what he called a “last warning” to agree a deal.
At the weekend, Hamas said it was ready to immediately negotiate the release of all those who were taken hostage during the group’s attack on Israel on 7 October 2023 in exchange for “a clear declaration to end the war, a full withdrawal from Gaza, and the formation of a committee of Palestinian independents to manage Gaza”.
Azadeh Moshiri of BBC reported from Dohan, As news of the explosions began circulating, residents were stunned. One man told us multiple friends began ringing him to tell him there were “blasts” in the capital. He said he couldn’t believe something like this would happen in Doha.
Israel has insisted measures were taken in order to mitigate harm to civilians. The area it struck is a central, residential neighbourhood.
For the second time this year, Qatar has seen fallout from the conflict in the Middle East result in a strike on its own soil. In June, Iran launched missiles at a US air base near the capital, days after a US attack inside Iran.
Paul Adams of BBC shared from Jerusalem, Reports from Doha spoke of as many as eight separate explosions, with plumes of smoke rising above the city.
Within minutes, Israel took responsibility; the military saying this was a precise strike targeting the senior leadership of Hamas.It’s likely the Hamas leaders were meeting precisely to discuss them. With reports still coming in from the scene, it’s not known how many of them, if any, are still alive.
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A building that appears to have been damaged after an Israeli air strike in Doha, Qatar, is in a complex on Wadi Rawn Street, north of the city centre.The complex comprises five buildings, three of which have swimming pools, and is next to a petrol station and car wash.There’s a secondary school further down the road, and the complex is within walking distance of several embassies.
Earlier, Qatar’s interior ministry confirmed that “one of the residential headquarters of Hamas” were targeted in Doha.
A joint statement from Benjamin Netanyahu and his Defence Minister Israel Katz says that in the wake of attacks in Jerusalem and Gaza, the Israeli prime minister ordered his security agencies to prepare to target the Hamas leadership.
It says that this afternoon presented an operational opportunity and, with the full backing of Israel’s defence leaders, the pair jointly decided to green-light the attack. It adds that the IDF and Shin Bet were informed of the plans for the attack last night.
The statement continues that Netanyahu and Katz believe the attack was justified due to the Hamas leadership being behind the 7 October 2023 attack and the shooting in Jerusalem yesterday.
Earlier today, Hamas claimed responsibility for the shooting, which killed six Israelis and left several other wounded.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres condemns “this flagrant violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Qatar”. Speaking at a news briefing just moments ago, he says he had just learned of the strike on Qatar, which he describes as “a country that has been playing a very positive role to achieve a ceasefire and release of all hostages”.
“All parties must work to achieving a permanent ceasefire, not destroying it,” the UN chief says.
The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.At least 64,605 people have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry. Israel has assassinated many of Hamas’s top military and political leaders in the last two years, such as top political leader Yahya Sinwar; military commander Mohammed Deif, one of the founders of the Qassam Brigades in the 1990s; and political chief Ismail Haniyeh, who was assassinated in Iran’s capital, Tehran.
