Israel has launched calculated airstrikes against top Hamas officials in Qatar, describing the execution as a “precise operation” against the organization’s political department.
Verified footage of Tuesday’s explosions in Doha, the capital of Qatar, showed smoke rising from a damaged complex at the Woqod gas station on Wadi Rawdan street, near the West Bay Lagoon district.
The operation, which featured 15 fighter jets firing 10 precision explosives on a single target, was directed at the “senior leadership” of Hamas, according to the Israel Defence Forces (IDF).
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Israeli media said that among those targeted were prominent West Bank figure Zaher Jabarin and exiled leaders Khalil al-Hayya, the group’s top negotiator, though it is unclear what their situation is.
Though its negotiation delegation survived, Hamas acknowledged that five of its members were killed in the strike. A Qatari security official was also said to have perished in the assault, according to the group.
Qatar’s interior ministry later identified the officer who lost his life as Warrant Corporal Badr Saad Mohammed Al-Humaidi Al-Dosari of the internal security force, known as Lekhwiya.
Several other Qatari security personnel were reportedly injured following the Israeli airstrikes.
Qatar, which has hosted Hamas’s political bureau since 2012, has been a key mediator in efforts to secure a ceasefire in Gaza following the October 7 attacks.
The strikes on Tuesday followed Hamas’ announcement that it was examining US-backed peace plans that would see 48 hostages in Gaza released in return for Palestinian detainees held in Israeli prisons.
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Hamas accused Israel of trying to disrupt the talks and held Washington “jointly responsible” for the attack.
The strike was however justified by Israeli President Isaac Herzog, who called it “important and correct.” The operation “may open the door to an end of the war in Gaza,” according to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Israeli Prime minister, Netanyahu said it was “a wholly independent Israeli operation”.
“Israel initiated it, Israel conducted it, and Israel takes full responsibility,” he added.
Qatar’s interior ministry confirmed that the explosions “were the result of an Israeli strike targeting residential compounds housing members of the political bureau of Hamas.”
It further stated that efforts were being made by Qatari officials to protect the locals and secure the area.
Meanwhile, the United Nations (UN) secretary general, Antonio Guterres, has denounced the airstrikes on Qatar.
Guterres cautioned that the attack jeopardised current efforts to negotiate a ceasefire in Gaza and called it a “flagrant violation” of Qatar’s sovereignty in a video message.
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