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Israel struck the capital of Qatar on Tuesday, targeting senior Hamas political officials as they gathered in Doha to discuss the latest ceasefire proposal put forth by the U.S.
Loud explosions were heard in the capital city, with pictures of smoke plumes rising. Israel took responsibility for the strikes, saying that they were targeting Hamas leaders.
“The [Israel Defense Forces] and [Israeli Security Agency] conducted a precise strike targeting the senior leadership of the Hamas terrorist organization,” the military said in a statement. “For years, these members of the Hamas leadership have led the terrorist organization’s operations, are directly responsible for the brutal October 7 massacre, and have been orchestrating and managing the war against the State of Israel.”
Hamas has said that five of its members were killed in the strike, including the Hamas lead negotiator’s son. However, it said the strike failed to kill any of their negotiating team. Israel has already assassinated Hamas leaders in Lebanon and Iran, as well as in Gaza.
Qatar’s interior ministry said that a member of Qatar’s Internal Security Force was also killed at the site, and several others were injured.
The attack comes just as Hamas officials were meeting in Doha to discuss a ceasefire proposal put forth by the U.S. this weekend. A Hamas source told Al Jazeera that the strike specifically targeted the negotiation team.
This is the first known time that Israel has struck Qatar — a key party in the ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas — amid its genocide in Gaza. Just in the past month, Israel has struck at least five Arab countries: Palestine, Yemen, Syria, Lebanon, and Qatar. On Monday, a Gaza-bound aid flotilla was struck by an aerial projectile in a Tunisian port, and activists have pointed the finger at Israel.
Israel has also escalated its siege on Gaza City in recent weeks, and ordered an estimated 1 million Palestinians in Gaza City to evacuate on Tuesday.
The strike comes just after Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar claimed that Israel accepted the U.S. ceasefire proposal. Hamas officials had accepted a separate, similar ceasefire deal put forth by Qatar last month, that Israel never responded to.
Israel has been known to sabotage ceasefire deals just as they are reaching completion, effectively prolonging the genocide. Israeli officials have long said that their goal is to take over Gaza, and that they will stop at nothing to achieve this objective.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office claimed full responsibility for the strike in a statement on social media. “Today’s action against the top terrorist chieftains of Hamas was a wholly independent Israeli operation. Israel initiated it, Israel conducted it, and Israel takes full responsibility,” his office said.
However, Qatar is an ally of the U.S., and commentators have said it’s unlikely that the strike would not be done in coordination with the U.S. Qatar hosts the largest military base in the Middle East, the regional headquarters of U.S. Central Command.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that the White House was informed of the strike before it happened, and sought to alert Qatari officials of it. However, Qatari officials denied this account as “completely false.”
“The call that was received from an American official came during the sound of the explosions that resulted from the Israeli attack in Doha,” said Qatar Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Majed al-Ansari.
Axios’s Barak Ravid, citing a U.S. official, said that Israel only notified the U.S. of the strike right before it happened.
Qatar condemned the strike, saying that it targeted residential buildings where Hamas political officials were staying.
“This criminal assault constitutes a blatant violation of all international laws and norms, and poses a serious threat to the security and safety of Qataris and residents in Qatar,” said al-Ansari. “While the State of Qatar strongly condemns this assault, it confirms that it will not tolerate this reckless Israeli behavior and the ongoing disruption of regional security, nor any act that targets its security and sovereignty.”
Note: This story has been updated to reflect new details about the death toll, and the White House’s response.
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