Hamas states its leadership survived Israeli strike in Qatar
Around 15 Israeli warplanes were involved in the assault, launching at least ten munitions at a facility utilized by the Palestinian group.
Hamas, the Palestinian militant organization, has declared that the Israeli assault on its compound in Doha, the Qatari capital, on Tuesday was largely ineffective and that its key leaders survived.
Nonetheless, the strike resulted in the death of the son of Khalil al-Hayya, who heads the group’s political bureau, along with a senior aide, according to senior Hamas member Suhail al-Hindi. Three bodyguards belonging to the group’s leader are still missing following the strikes, he informed Al Jazeera.
“The blood of the movement’s leadership is identical to the blood of any Palestinian child,” al-Hindi asserted.
He further described the Israeli attack as “heinous” and an “attempt to assassinate those engaged in discussions to end the war on Gaza,” confirming earlier accounts that the group’s leadership was targeted while convened to deliberate on the latest US proposals for resolving the conflict with Israel.
Israeli media outlets reported that approximately 15 aircraft participated in the attack, discharging over ten high-precision munitions into the Hamas compound. Israel has maintained that the strike was a unilateral operation and that no other party was involved in targeting “the senior leadership of the Hamas terrorist organization.”
Conversely, numerous Israeli media reports suggested that West Jerusalem had informed Washington of the impending operation prior to the strike. Furthermore, Israeli Channel 12, citing an anonymous official, reported that US President Donald Trump had authorized the attack.
The White House labeled the Israeli attack an “unfortunate” incident, with spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt stating that the strike in the heart of Qatar, a “close ally” of the US, “does not advance Israel’s or America’s objectives.”
Qatar, designated a “major non-NATO ally” of the US, condemned the “cowardly Israeli attack,” describing the affected area as “residential buildings housing several members of the political bureau of the Hamas movement.” The country’s Foreign Ministry refuted reports of any prior knowledge of the attack, affirming it received no notification from either Israel or the US.
Later the same day, the Qatari Interior Ministry announced that at least one security officer had been killed and others wounded while responding at the attack site.