Security footage captures the moment of an Israeli strike targeting Hamas leaders in Doha, Qatar. Photo / Getty Images
Deadly Israeli airstrikes have targeted senior Hamas leaders in US ally Qatar, the venue of repeated rounds of Gaza peace talks, drawing a rare rebuke from President Donald Trump.
The Palestinian militant group said six people were killed in the strikes, including a son of its top negotiator, but that its senior leaders had survived. Qatar said one of its security officers also died.
The White House said Trump did not agree with Israel’s decision to take military action on the US ally’s soil and had warned Qatar in advance of the incoming strikes.
But Qatar, which hosts a large US military base, said it had not received the warning from Washington until the attack was already under way.
The emirate’s Prime Minister said it reserved the right to respond to the Israeli attack, which it said constituted a “pivotal moment” for the region.
“We believe that today we have reached a pivotal moment,” Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani told a press conference. “There must be a response from the entire region to such barbaric actions.”
Qatar said the strikes targeted the homes of several members of Hamas’s political bureau residing in the Gulf country.
Three bodyguards and negotiator Khalil al-Hayya’s aide and son were all killed in the attack, Hamas said, affirming “the enemy’s failure to assassinate our brothers in the negotiating delegation”.
Qatar’s interior ministry said a member of its internal security forces was killed in the strikes and several other security personnel wounded.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he ordered the strikes in response to a Monday shooting in Jerusalem that killed six people and was later claimed by Hamas.
“Yesterday, following the deadly attacks in Jerusalem and Gaza, Prime Minister Netanyahu instructed all security agencies to prepare for the possibility of targeting Hamas leaders,” said a joint statement from Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz.
The reaction from Washington to the attack on its ally was a rare personal rebuke for Israel from Trump.
While eliminating Hamas was a “worthy goal”, a strike in the Qatari capital “does not advance Israel or America’s goals”, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters, reading from a statement.
“The President views Qatar as a strong ally and friend of the United States, and feels very badly about the location of this attack.”
Trump had his envoy notify Qatar of the impending Israeli attack, the White House said, adding that the US President spoke with the leaders of both countries after the strikes.
“President Trump immediately directed Special Envoy Steve Witkoff to inform the Qataris of the impending attack, which he did,” Leavitt said.
But Qatar said the strikes were already under way when the US official called.
“The call received from an American official came as explosions sounded from the Israeli attack,” foreign ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari posted on X.
It is the first time Israel has carried out airstrikes in the Western-backed Gulf state.
Since Hamas’ October 2023 attack, it has also carried out strikes in Iran, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen, as well as the Palestinian territories.
Speaking at a US embassy event in Jerusalem later, Netanyahu said “terrorist leaders” would no longer be safe anywhere in the world.
Along with the United States and Egypt, Qatar has led multiple attempts to end the Israel-Hamas war, which was sparked by the Palestinian militant group’s October 2023 attack, and secure the release of the remaining hostages.
The main Israeli group campaigning on behalf of the hostages expressed “deep concern” following the Israeli attack on Hamas leaders.
“The families of the hostages are following the developments in Doha with deep concern and heavy anxiety. A grave fear now hangs over the price that the hostages may pay,” the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said.
The strikes have drawn condemnation, including from UN chief Antonio Guterres, who condemned Israel’s “flagrant violation” of Qatari sovereignty.
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said the Israeli attack “not only violates Qatar’s territorial sovereignty, but also jeopardises all of our efforts to secure the release of the hostages”.
The attack came as Israel stepped up a deadly assault on Gaza City, the Palestinian territory’s largest urban centre.
It marked a sharp escalation on the territory of a state that has been a driving force in ceasefire efforts.
The Qatari Prime Minister vowed that the Israeli strikes would not stop the emirate from continuing its efforts to broker a ceasefire in Gaza.
“Nothing will deter us from continuing this mediation in the region,” Sheikh Mohammed said.
But analysts warned that the strikes had likely derailed any potential for a Gaza truce.
“Israel knows exactly what it just did. It just killed the negotiations and any chance of getting its hostages back,” said Muhammad Shehada, a political analyst at the European Council on Foreign Relations.
- Agence France-Presse