Israel targets Hamas leadership in Qatar strikes
DOHA: Israel has expanded its military campaign beyond Gaza and neighboring states, launching airstrikes on Hamas leadership in Qatar’s capital city, Doha, late Tuesday night. Explosions were heard across the city, with plumes of smoke rising near the Legtifya petrol station, not far from a residential compound guarded by Qatar’s Emiri Guard since the Gaza war began. Ambulances and dozens of security vehicles rushed to the site following the blasts.
Israeli officials confirmed the strike was aimed at top Hamas leaders, including Khalil al-Hayya, the group’s exiled Gaza chief and lead negotiator in ceasefire talks. Hamas sources told Reuters that members of its delegation survived the attack. The strike came just a day after Hamas’ armed wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, claimed responsibility for a deadly shooting at a Jerusalem bus stop that killed six people.
Qatar, which has hosted ceasefire negotiations alongside Egypt, strongly condemned the attack, calling it a cowardly assault and a blatant violation of international law. The UAE, which normalized ties with Israel under the 2020 Abraham Accords, also denounced the strike as “blatant and cowardly.” Saudi Arabia went further, branding it a “brutal Israeli aggression” against Qatar’s sovereignty.
The strike threatens to derail ongoing ceasefire negotiations, which have heavily relied on Qatar’s role as a mediator between Hamas and Israel. The United Nations and humanitarian agencies had already expressed concerns about the spiraling violence in Gaza, where Israel has ordered mass evacuations from Gaza City ahead of what it described as a decisive assault on Hamas’ remaining strongholds.
Residents in Gaza, already displaced by months of bombardment, described panic as evacuation orders spread. “There’s no place left, not in the south, nor the north. We’ve become completely trapped,” said Bajess al-Khaldi, a cancer patient sheltering in a tent camp.
Since the war began in October 2023, Israel has targeted Hamas leaders across Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Iran, and Yemen. It has carried out strikes against Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthi movement in Yemen, both of which have launched attacks on Israel in support of Hamas.
Tuesday’s strike on Qatari soil marks a major escalation, widening the battlefield into the Gulf and raising fears of further regional instability.
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