By Eric Vandenbroeck and co-workers

Israel Targets Hamas Leadership

Our observing Hamas goes back to EV writing about it in January 2008, when Al Qaeda depended on certain Bedouin nomadic elements for its foothold in Sinai, but it has acquired a stable territorial base on Egyptian soil. 

Hamas initiated the war when it invaded southern Israel on October 7. Earlier today, Israel carried out a strike on Hamas leaders in Doha, Qatar, on Tuesday afternoon, 9 October.

 

The international reaction

The leaders of the UK, France, and the UN have condemned the attack.

US President Donald Trump said, "We are not thrilled about the way that went down today." He said he found out about the attack from the US military as the strikes were underway. He also said that eliminating Hamas "is a worthy goal.”

The leaders of the UK, France, and the UN have condemned the attack.

Hamas has said five of its members were killed in an Israeli air strike in Qatar's capital, but claimed that an attempt to assassinate its negotiating team "failed".

Hamas said the negotiating team was meeting to discuss the latest US proposal for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip at a residential compound in Doha when it was badly damaged by a series of explosions.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the strike was "fully justified" because it targeted senior Hamas leaders who organized the 7 October 2023 attack on Israel, which triggered the Gaza war.

Qatar condemned the Israeli attack, calling it "cowardly" and a "flagrant violation of international law". But Israel’s attack in Doha was not entirely surprising, given Israel’s vow to eliminate Hamas, but some aspects of it are still shocking.

Israel claimed credit immediately, in contrast to the last time the Israelis targeted a Hamas leader outside Gaza. The US and Israel had asked Qatar to host Hamas leaders. Hamas’ location was not a secret. There was an unstated understanding that while Israel could assassinate the leaders, they would not do so, given Qatar’s mediation role. The strike makes a hostage deal less likely, since any agreement requires negotiating with Hamas leadership in Doha.

The Gulf state's interior ministry said one member of its Internal Security Force was killed and others were injured, without mentioning any Hamas casualties.

The White House said US President Donald Trump believed the incident was "unfortunate" but that eliminating Hamas was "a worthy goal".

Qatar is a key US ally in the region that is the location of a major American air base.

It has hosted the Hamas political bureau since 2012, and has served along with the US and Egypt as a mediator in indirect negotiations between the group and Israel.

The media reported the strike was carried out using 15 Israeli fighter jets, firing 10 munitions against a single target. Witnesses in Doha said they heard as many as eight separate explosions.

Hamas said five of its members were killed but claims its top leadership survived.

Meanwhile, Israel is facing growing condemnation after it attacked Hamas leadership in the capital of Qatar, a US ally and key mediator in Gaza ceasefire talks, putting hostage negotiations at risk. 

Hamas said the strike killed five members but failed to assassinate the negotiating delegation, the target of the strikes. 

US President Donald Trump has criticized the strike, saying that by the time his administration learned of the attack and told the Qataris, there was little he could do to stop it. 

The attack is the first publicly acknowledged strike on a Gulf state by Israel. Qatar’s prime minister was visibly angry and said his country’s tradition of diplomacy “won’t be deterred.”

Israeli missiles hit Qatar’s capital, Doha, on Tuesday, September 10, with Israel saying it was targeting Hamas leaders, as they met to discuss ceasefire efforts in Gaza. Qatar called it a breach of sovereignty. With global condemnation mounting, what does this unprecedented attack mean for the negotiations and the people in Gaza?

 

What have Israel, Qatar, and Hamas said about the attack

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it was "fully justified" because it targeted senior Hamas leaders who organized the 7 October 2023 attack on Israel, which triggered the Gaza war.

Hamas said the strike was "a heinous crime, a blatant aggression, and a flagrant violation of all international norms and laws".

Qatar said the attack was a "blatant violation" of international laws, as well as being a "serious threat" to those in Qatar.

Hamas also said it held the US administration "jointly responsible" for the attack because it supported the Israeli military.

The White House said it was notified by the US military that Israel was attacking Hamas.

"Unilaterally bombing inside Qatar, a sovereign nation and close ally of the United States that is working very hard and bravely taking risks with us to broker peace, does not advance Israel or America's goals," Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters. "However, eliminating Hamas, who has profited off the misery of those living in Gaza, is a worthy goal."

She added: "President Trump immediately directed special envoy Steve Witkoff to inform the Qataris of the impending attack, which he did."

Afterwards, Trump spoke to Israel's prime minister, who told him that "he wants to make peace and quickly", according to Leavitt.

The president also spoke to the emir and prime minister of Qatar and "assured them that such a thing will not happen again on their soil", she added.

The Israeli prime minister's office earlier stressed that it was "a wholly independent Israeli operation". "Israel initiated it, Israel conducted it, and Israel takes full responsibility," it said.

 

International reactions

Qatar's government reacted with fury to Israel's actions, saying: "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."

Similar statements of outrage came from across the Arab world, with Saudi Arabia denouncing what it described as the "brutal Israeli aggression".

UN Secretary General António Guterres also condemned the strike, saying it was a "flagrant violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Qatar".

He said Qatar had been "playing a very positive role to achieve a ceasefire and release of all hostages", adding: "All parties must work towards achieving a permanent ceasefire, not destroying it."

French President Emmanuel Macron said the strike was "unacceptable regardless of motive", while UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer warned of the risk of "further escalation across the region" and called for a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages.

Pope Leo XIV told journalists that "the entire situation is very serious".

Witnesses in Doha said they heard as many as eight separate explosions on Tuesday afternoon, with plumes of smoke rising above the city's northern Katara district.

The strike hit "residential buildings housing several members of the Political Bureau of Hamas", according to Qatari authorities.

Within minutes, Israel said it was behind the blasts.

 The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Shin Bet internal security service said in a statement that they conducted "a precise strike targeting the senior leadership" of Hamas.

Later, Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz said Israeli security forces had been ordered on Monday to prepare for a possible strike "after the murderous attacks in Jerusalem and Gaza" – a reference to the killing of six Israelis by two Palestinian gunmen at a bus stop in Jerusalem and the killing of four Israeli soldiers in an attack on an army camp in Gaza City.

"The prime minister and the defense minister believed that the action was fully justified given the fact that it was this Hamas leadership that initiated and organized the October 7 massacre, and - since then - has not ceased from launching murderous operations against the State of Israel and its citizens," they added.

Israeli media reported that the operation involved 15 Israeli fighter jets, firing 10 munitions against a single target within a few seconds.

An Israeli official was cited as saying the Hamas members targeted included Khalil al-Hayya, the chief negotiator and exiled Gaza leader, and Zaher Jabarin, the exiled West Bank leader.

Israel's airstrike in Doha targeting Hamas' leadership marks a strategic escalation, but not without risking the lives of hostages held in Gaza, while raising concerns over the effectiveness of future negotiations, as Israel's defense chiefs prioritize a hostage deal over further military action.

Israel's strike in Doha was "an act of self-defense", says former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.

He told the media that the targets of the strike were "terrorist architects" who "continue to conduct attacks on Israel's soil" - citing a deadly shooting at a bus stop in Jerusalem on Monday.

"Hamas took responsibility for that, so we have to defend our people," he says.

Asked if he is concerned about the impact this strike will have on the hostages still being held by Hamas in Gaza, Bennett says: "If we don't act, they will die".

Bennett adds: "Hamas doesn't want to release them unless it can remain a terror state on our border."

While Bennett says he has "intense" domestic criticism of current Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government, the former leader says, "I support Israel internationally in our fight to defend ourselves."

 

 

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