Israel targets senior Hamas leadership in Qatar

By Washington Post staff

Israeli forces attacked residential buildings in Doha targeting the senior leadership of Hamas, Qatar’s foreign ministry said Tuesday. Qatar’s Interior Ministry said the attack was on a “Hamas residential headquarters.”

U.S. allies in Doha did not receive advance warning of an attack, a Western diplomat in Qatar’s capital said Tuesday, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomacy. The U.S. Embassy in Doha has advised American citizens in Qatar to shelter in place.

Majed Al-Ansari, spokesperson for Qatar’s foreign ministry, said the attack was “cowardly,” a “blatant violation of all international laws and norms” and “a serious threat to the security and safety of Qataris and residents in Qatar.”

“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,” Al-Ansari said in a statement posted on X.

He said Qatari security forces, civil defense and other authorities are responding to the attack and “taking necessary measures to contain its repercussions and ensure the safety of the residents and surrounding areas.”

The Israel Defense Forces and the Israeli Security Agency said in a joint statement Tuesday that they had “conducted a precise strike targeting the senior leadership of the Hamas terrorist organization.”

The statement did not say which leaders were targeted, or where. It said measures were taken to mitigate civilian harm. The statement came as smoke from a blast rose over Doha, the capital of Qatar.

“The IDF and ISA will continue to operate with determination in order to defeat the Hamas terrorist organization responsible for the October 7th massacre,” the statement said.

Qatar’s capital, Doha, has been at the center of ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas, with Qatari officials serving as regional mediators and allowing Hamas political leaders to maintain offices in the tiny Persian Gulf country. In recent days, Arab nations, including Qatar, pushed Hamas to accept a new ceasefire proposal from the U.S.

The families of Israeli hostages in Gaza expressed concern about the potential impacts of the strike.

“I’m trembling with fear. Right now, the prime minister may have essentially signed Matan’s death sentence,” Einav Zangauker, the mother of the hostage Matan Zangauker, said in a post on X. “Matan’s life is hanging by a thread. Time and again, the prime minister sabotages the deal. Enough!”

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, an umbrella group representing most of the hostage families from the Oct. 7, 2021, attack, said Tuesday’s attack risks bringing the remaining hostages home.

“The chance of bringing them back now faces greater uncertainty than ever before, with one thing of absolute certainty – their time is running out,” the group said in a statement on X. “The time has come to end the war.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in July that 20 of the hostages are still believed to be alive, without naming or identifying those believed to have died.

Jordan condemned the strike as “cowardly.”

Tuesday’s attack is “a flagrant violation of international law, a serious threat to the security of the sisterly Qatari people and the residents in Qatar, and an extension of the brutal Israeli aggression that threatens the security and stability of the region,” Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said in a statement.

“Our security is one, and we stand with our brothers in Qatar and stand in absolute solidarity with them in any steps they take against this aggression and to protect their security, stability, and sovereignty,” he continued.

“Israel will continue to escalate its aggression, its brutal wars, and its violations of international law, and its threats to regional and international security and peace, unless the international community, particularly the Security Council, takes the necessary steps to deter it and curb its aggression,” he said.