Breaking :Israel strikes Qatar in attempt to assassinate Hamas officials

 

The IDF and the Shin Bet on Tuesday confirmed an attack on the Hamas leadership in Doha, Qatar.

A statement said that the leaders targeted were responsible for the October 7, 2023, massacre of around 1,200 Israelis in the country's South, as well as managing the terror group's operations for years before that.

Khalil al-Hayya, the leader of Hamas, was one of the targets of the operations, an Israeli official confirmed to The Jerusalem Post. His death has not been confirmed.

Israeli officials told The Post that the US knew about the attack beforehand and gave it the green light. The US Embassy in Doha has issued a shelter-in-place order for all US citizens. 

Qatar's official response!

"Hamas received the new proposal from the Qataris, which we [Israel] obtained from Witkoff last week in Paris. The prime minister met with the Hamas leadership yesterday, and they decided to meet again today to discuss the proposal, arriving from Turkey," a diplomatic source told the Post.

"As it happened before, the Israelis undermined hopes for peace, further prolonging the war and complicating efforts to bring back the hostages," Qatar responded.

"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," said Majed al-Ansari, spokesperson of the Qatari Foreign Ministry.

"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," he added.

"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."

IDF and Shin Bet confirm the strikes

According to the military and the Shin Bet, special measures were taken to avoid harming anyone other than the top Hamas leaders, based on precise intelligence and munitions.

According to an official statement, the IAF and the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) conducted a precise strike targeting the senior leadership of the Hamas terrorist organization. 

"For years, these members of the Hamas leadership have led the terrorist organization's operations, are directly responsible for the brutal October 7th massacre, and have been orchestrating and managing the war against the State of Israel," the statement read.

No mention has been made yet of Khaled Mashaal, who was formerly the leader of Hamas years ago and remains a symbol of the group.

Until now, some of these officials have been viewed as too important and involved in negotiations to be targeted for assassination.

However, in July 2024, the Mossad assassinated Islmail haniyeh in Tehran at a time when he was heavily involved in negotiations.

In that case, the Biden administration accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of targeting Haniyeh partially to avoid a hostage deal, which he did not yet want at the time.

Netanyahu was defended by top Israeli defense officials who said that Haniyeh had been an obstacle to a deal and that, in any case, his responsibility for October 7 was too large to leave him alive.

It was unclear what position the Trump administration would take on the attack at a time when it is trying to press Israel and Hamas to reach a deal, and it was unclear who would remain Hamas's top negotiator.

The attack was also unusual because it was carried out openly by the air force and the Shin Bet as opposed to the Mossad, which is normally responsible for out-of-Israel assassinations, such as with Haniyeh.

However, the Mossad has managed to maintain better relations with Qatar, such that a decision may have been made to keep them at a distance from this operation.