The Israeli military has said that explosions seen and heard in the Qatari capital Doha were the result of an assassination attempt against members of the Hamas leadership and senior officials of the Palestinian group.
It is the first such attack by Israel in Qatar, a key mediator in ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas, and home to the region’s largest US military base, Al Udeid Air Base.
Israel has been bombarding Gaza, Lebanon, Yemen and Syria, as well as carrying out daily attacks in the occupied West Bank in Palestine.
A Hamas source told Al Jazeera that the attack targeted Hamas negotiating team. The attack came as negotiators from Hamas were meeting to consider the latest ceasefire proposal put forth by the United States.
The military released a statement Tuesday, saying “The IDF and Shin Bet, through the Air Force, recently carried out a targeted attack on the top leadership of the Hamas terrorist organization.”
“The members of the leadership who were attacked led the terrorist organization’s activities for years, and are directly responsible for carrying out the October 7 massacre and waging the war against the State of Israel, it added.
The statement said that before the attack, “steps were taken to minimize harm to uninvolved people, including the use of precision weapons and additional intelligence information.”
In a statement, Majed Al Ansari, spokesperson for Qatar’s Foreign Ministry, said the country “condemns in the strongest terms” the attack, which he said was carried out on residential buildings housing several members of the Hamas political bureau.
“This criminal attack constitutes a flagrant violation of all international laws and norms and a serious threat to the security and safety of Qataris and residents of Qatar,” the statement reads.
“While strongly condemning this attack, the State of Qatar affirms that it will not tolerate this reckless Israeli behavior and its continued tampering with regional security, as well as any action targeting its security and sovereignty. Investigations are underway at the highest level, and further details will be announced as soon as they become available.”
Residential area targeted
The site of the attack in the Qatari capital is close to a residential neighbourhood – not an isolated area, reports Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent Suhaib Al-Assa.
Al-Assa said security officials had said their priority was to secure the scene and locate damage and casualties.
“The security procedures are very complex because we are talking about an extremely sensitive site – a site that is very close to residential buildings and people’s homes,” he said.
‘Emboldened’ by Gaza genocide
The strikes in Doha come less than two weeks after armed forces chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir pledged to target the Hamas’ leaders wherever they were internationally, following a situation assessment meeting with his top commanders.
“Most of Hamas’s leadership is abroad, and we will reach them as well,” Zamir said on August 31.
Al Jazeera correspondent Nida Ibrahim said the unprecedented attack in Doha, which has hosted negotiations for a potential ceasefire agreement in Gaza, reflected how “emboldened” Israel had become “by being able to carry out a genocide and getting away with it”.
Reporting from Amman, Jordan, Al Jazeera’s Hamdah Salhut said the strike in a third country was similar to its assassination of Hamas political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, who was assassinated in Tehran.
The Israeli army claims that it took measures to mitigate civilian harm should be taken with a grain of salt, she said, given how many civilians in the Gaza Strip have been killed over the past two years.
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