Israel has admitted to carrying out an airstrike in the Qatari capital, targeting Hamas’s chief negotiator Khalil al-Hayya. Hamas says its leadership survived, but six people, including a Qatari security officer, were killed. The attack has triggered fury in Doha and awkward questions for Washington, which was notified in advance.
Israel launched a rare strike outside Gaza on Monday, hitting Hamas leaders in Doha, Qatar. Hamas confirmed the attack but said its senior leadership team survived.
According to Hamas, six people were killed, including one member of Qatar’s security forces. The strike marks the first time Israel has targeted Hamas figures on Qatari soil, a nation that has played a key mediating role in indirect negotiations between the group and Israel.
Qatar condemned the strike as a “blatant violation of international law.” Its foreign ministry spokesperson, Majed Al-Ansari, said Doha was not warned in advance, “The communication received from one of the US officials came during the sound of explosions,” he posted on X.
The White House confirmed it had been notified beforehand but later stressed the attack “does not advance Israel or America’s goals.” President Trump reportedly assured Qatar’s leadership that such an incident “will not happen again on their soil.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended the strike, vowing there would be no “immunity” for Hamas leaders abroad.
The target, Khalil al-Hayya, has been central to negotiations over a Gaza ceasefire and the release of Israeli hostages. But analysts say Hamas’s command structure inside Gaza has already been so degraded that its leadership in Qatar has struggled to exert real control.
The strike threatens to derail Qatar’s mediation role and complicates US-Qatari relations. Qatar hosts the largest American military base in the region, from which US air operations across the Middle East are coordinated.
The attack suggests Israel has abandoned faith in negotiations and is pressing ahead with a strategy of total military pressure.
Erizia Rubyjeana
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