Israel launched a series of strikes in Qatar’s capital on Tuesday targeting Hamas leadership.
Israel took the extraordinary step of quickly claiming responsibility for the strike, saying it was part of an operation called the “top of the fire.”
Hamas said six people, including five members, were killed, but the strike failed to assassinate the negotiating delegation.
Several countries have condemned the attack, and Qatar calls the strike “state terrorism.” President Donald Trump said he was “not excited about the whole situation.”
The latest attacks on the soils of other Israeli countries have threatened to derail a new ceasefire talk, as well as efforts to secure the release of the remaining Israeli hostages held by Hamas prisoners. The strike comes hours after Israel ordered the full evacuation of Gaza, where thousands of people live in artificial hunger situations prior to the planned military acquisition.
Here’s what you need to know.
The Israeli strike in Doha hit a luxury residential area in West Bay Lagoon, which housed several members of the Hamas Political Bureau, according to a spokesman for Qatar’s Foreign Ministry.
Hamas leaders have been using Qatar’s capital openly as a headquarters outside of Gaza for years, and at the time, extremist groups said negotiators were considering a recent ceasefire proposal that Trump supported.
One of the main targets of the strike was Hamas’ chief negotiator, Khalil al-Hayya, who was not listed among the deaths.
Five Hamas officials, including Al Hayya’s son and the director of his office, were killed on the strike, the group said. Qatar security guards also died on the strike.
An Israeli source told CNN that the attack was “a few months in the process of creating,” involving more than 10 fighters who fired more than 10 ammunition. Qatar’s prime minister said Israel used weapons that were not detected by radar.
The Jets needed air refueling for long-range strikes, Israeli officials said, and they all hit a single target in Doha.
The nature of the attack was unprecedented.
Qatar has a long history of being a neutral territory for troublesome diplomatic negotiations, including holding Afghan Taliban offices during secret consultations with the US.
The Emirate is one of two regional mediators leading the only diplomatic tracks trying to end the war in Gaza and the release of the Israelis held by Hamas. It maintains direct channels with the US, Israel and Hamas, and hosts countless rounds of negotiations.
Katari Foreign Ministry spokesman Al Ansari refused to receive prior notice of the strike and called a report suggesting that otherwise it would be “baseless.”
Israel’s strike against Qatar is the first known Israeli attack on the Gulf Arab state. CNN Global Affairs Analyst Brett McGurk said the strike “contradicts a place known to the US and Israel in the capital of the country that works closely with both.”
Qatar is also the host of the largest US base in the Middle East and has had very strong ties with the US for decades.
The attack could have a calm effect in the region, raising concerns that our nearby allies, like Qatar, could be attacked by other US allies, Israel, who may be next.
What does this mean for the ceasefire and hostage stories and hostages?
Israeli strikes have threatened to derail negotiations to end the war in Gaza, which had reached an inflection point, according to several sources.
Qatar’s top diplomat Hamad al-Muhta said the strike was “clearly designed to undermine peace negotiations” at the enclave. Qatar Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman bin Jasim al Thani said the attacks have changed the landscape of the current ceasefire talks.
“It would not be surprising if mediation was stopped,” Hasan Alhasan, a senior fellow at Middle East Policy at the Institute for International Strategic Studies (IISS), told CNN.
Hamas said the strike would not change the demands for a ceasefire deal.
This weekend, the US proposed a new ceasefire framework that Israel has embraced.
Meanwhile, the Hostage and Missing Family Forum said the family is following Doha’s progress “with deep concern and intense anxiety.” The mother of an Israeli hostage said the strike could serve as a death sentence for her son.
President Trump has tried to distance himself from Israeli attacks in Qatar. The White House initially said it had learned that the decision was made by Israeli leaders and that the US was too late for them to intervene.
According to US officials, Trump was notified just before it began, not by Israel itself, but by the co-email chairman, just before the strike began.
Spokesperson Caroline Levitt said attacks within Qatar would “not advance Israeli or the US goals.”
However, the US president did not explicitly condemn the attack.
“I’m not excited about the whole situation. It’s not a good situation. But I say this, we want to get the hostages back, but we’re not excited about how it went down,” Trump told reporters tonight outside Joe’s seafood at the Prime Steak & Stone Club in Washington, DC.
Qatar Prime Minister Al Thani was visibly angry as he described the attacks he called “national terrorism.” He said his country’s diplomatic tradition was “not deterred,” but implied that there is an uncertain path to current consultations on Gaza.
“This attack and this targeting outweigh the moral standards as well as international law,” Al Thani said.
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu portrayed the attack as a peaceful act that “can open the door to the end of the war in Gaza.” His office previously revealed that the strike was a “completely independent Israeli operation.”
Globally – and in stark contrast to the US response, Israel is facing an intensifying collapse.
The UN chief of Antonio Guterres condemned the attack, as did European leaders and several Asian countries. Many Arab countries also warned that such attacks could undermine the safety of the region. Palestinian authorities vice president Hussein al-Sheikh said the strike “constituates a serious violation of international law and Qatar’s sovereignty.”
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has said Israel would “directly put an attack on Doha in danger.”
Now, with a ceasefire agreement on the Rocky Grounds, Israel continues to drive its widespread attack on Gaza, against domestic and international opposition.
When Israel ordered a full evacuation of Gaza on Tuesday, the strike ordered a full evacuation of Gaza, where around 1 million Palestinians lived, ahead of a planned military takeover that it said was the key to defeating Hamas.
Palestinians in Gaza are facing even more displacement as they rapidly spread into densely starved cities.
UN Human Rights Director Volkar Tarq warned that Israel’s escalation in Gaza city would lead to greater forced evacuation, killing, more unbearable suffering, meaningless destruction and cruelty.
