Israel’s failed attempt to kill Hamas’ political leadership in unprecedented air strikes on Qatari capital Doha will further complicate the Gaza negotiations.
BEIRUT, Lebanon, Sept. 11 Israel’s failed attempt to kill Hamas’ political leadership in unprecedented air strikes on the Qatari capital, Doha, will further complicate the Gaza negotiations and harden the Palestinian militant group’s position, Hamas and analysts said.
The action also could put the Abraham Accords at risk and undermine Gulf countries’ trust in the United States as a reliable ally and security guarantor, they said.
The attack, whether carried out with or without Washington’s approval or knowledge, has moreover heightened fears among the oil-rich Gulf states about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s «Greater Israel» mission and his broader plan to reshape the Middle East — a strategy that further threatens peace and stability in the region.
The Hamas negotiating delegation was meeting in Doha to discuss U.S. President Donald Trump’s new proposal to end the nearly 23-month war in Gaza when Israeli fighter jets and drones struck residential buildings that housed several members of the Hamas Politburo on Tuesday.
Hamas said its negotiators survived the assassination attempts, but five members of the group and one Qatari security official were killed.
Israel initially believed that most of the senior Hamas officials targeted in the strike had died, but soon admitted that the chances of success had significantly diminished.
Regardless of the outcome, the Doha strike was «unprecedented», as it also constituted an attack on the sovereignty of a country that was mediating and hosting parties to the conflict, according to Riad Kahwaji, who heads the Dubai-based Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis.
«You don’t kill the negotiator — and you definitely don’t violate the sovereignty of the country hosting the negotiations. That’s a serious flaw», Kahwaji told UPI. «It is wrong on so many levels, and it carries serious implications, both now and in the future.»
He said Netanyahu is «completely out of control» in how he has been handling the Gaza war, his plans to annex the West Bank and now the attack on Doha — which Qatari officials, angry and feeling betrayed, described using strong terms such as «aggression», «barbaric», and «state terror.» The officials went further, labeling Israel itself a «rogue state.»
Despite being Washington’s major non-NATO ally and hosting al-Udeid — the largest U.S. airbase in the Middle East, with around 11,000 American military personnel — Qatar was not immune to Israel’s reckless and uncontrolled actions.
