Israel attacks Hamas leaders in Doha

DOHA
Israel’s military said it conducted air strikes targeting senior Hamas leaders in the Qatari capital on Tuesday, as Doha condemned the attack — the first of its kind on Qatari territory.
Qatar, which has been a key mediator in efforts to broker a truce in Gaza, said Israeli strikes 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 military and the Shin Bet security agency, the two bodies said in a statement.
Neither Israeli officials nor domestic media have confirmed whether the strikes hit their intended targets. Hamas has also not commented on the fate of its leaders.
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”, though it was not immediately clear whether the attack had caused any casualties. 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, a key US ally that is home to a large US military base.
A video journalist working with AFP in Doha saw a plume of smoke rising from behind a low-rise building.
“For years, these members of the Hamas leadership have led the terrorist organisation’s operations, are directly responsible for the brutal October 7 (2023) massacre, and have been orchestrating and managing the war against the State of Israel,” the Israeli military said in a statement.
“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. Tuesday’s strikes — Israel’s first attack on the Western-backed Gulf state — come less than two weeks after Israel’s armed forces chief vowed to target the group’s 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.