DOHA, Qatar (AFP) — Israel’s military said it carried out air strikes Tuesday targeting senior Hamas leaders in the Qatari capital Doha, the venue of multiple rounds of talks aimed at ending the Gaza war.
At least six people were killed, according to Hamas
Qatar, which is also a key US ally, condemned the strikes, which it said targeted the homes of several members of Hamas’s political bureau residing in the Gulf country, where the militant group’s senior leadership is based.
The strikes were carried out jointly by the Israeli military and the Shin Bet security agency, the two bodies said in a statement.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he ordered the strikes in response to a Monday shooting in Jerusalem that killed six people and was later claimed by Hamas.
“Yesterday, following the deadly attacks in Jerusalem and Gaza, Prime Minister Netanyahu instructed all security agencies to prepare for the possibility of targeting Hamas leaders,” said a joint statement from Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz.
“Today at noon (0900 GMT), in light of an operational opportunity… the prime minister and the defence minister decided to implement the directive given last night.”
A Hamas official in Gaza told AFP the group’s negotiators had been “targeted”,
Among the key Hamas leaders based in Qatar are lead negotiator Khalil al-Hayya and political bureau chief Khaled Meshaal.
A White House official told AFP that Israel had notified the United States in advance about the strikes in Qatar, which is home to a large US military base.
But Netanyahu’s office said the Israeli strikes were a “wholly independent” operation.
A video journalist working with AFP in Doha saw a plume of smoke rising from behind a low-rise building.
“The name of the operation in Doha is Summit of Fire. These were air strikes,” an Israeli military official told AFP.
Qatar condemned the attack, saying it had targeted residential buildings housing Hamas political bureau members.
“The State of Qatar strongly condemns the cowardly Israeli attack that targeted residential buildings housing several members of the political bureau of Hamas in the Qatari capital, Doha,” foreign ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari said in a post on X.
It is the first time Israel has carried out air strikes in the Western-backed Gulf state. Since Hamas’s October 2023 attack, it has also carried out strikes in Iran, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen, as well as the Palestinian territories.
The Doha strikes come less than two weeks after Israel’s armed forces chief vowed to target Hamas leaders based abroad.
“Most of Hamas’s leadership is abroad, and we will reach them as well,” Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir said on August 31.
The strikes have drawn condemnation, including from UN chief Antonio Guterres, who condemned Israel’s “flagrant violation” of Qatari sovereignty.
Iran, a key backer of Hamas, condemned the attack as a “gross violation of all international rules and regulations, a violation of Qatar’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity, and an attack on Palestinian negotiators”.
Western allies Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates also condemned the attack, among others.