The message behind the unprecedented attack on the soil of a US ally.
Israel’s attempted killing of Hamas’s senior global leadership on Tuesday was the clearest indication in months that the war in Gaza is unlikely to end in a hostage deal between Israel and Hamas.
The airstrike by the Israeli Air Force on a residential building in Doha, the capital of Qatar, a US ally, reportedly took place as Hamas leaders, some of whom had traveled from out of the country, were meeting to discuss the Trump administration’s latest ceasefire proposal. According to Hamas, five people were killed in the attack, but the Hamas leaders, including Khalil al-Hayya, the group’s exiled Gaza leader, and Khaled Mashaal, head of Hamas abroad, had survived. Qatar’s interior ministry says a member of their internal security forces was killed.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly gave the green light for the strike following an attack by a Palestinian gunman that killed six people at a Jerusalem bus stop on Monday. White House officials say the US was informed of the strike after the missiles had been launched, though Netanyahu described it as a “wholly independent Israeli operation.” The White House has distanced itself from the strikes; press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that while eliminating Hamas is a worthy goal, “Unilaterally bombing inside Qatar, a sovereign nation and close ally of the United States . does not advance Israel or America’s goals.” Leavitt also said that President Donald Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, had informed the Qatari government of the impending attack and that Trump had assured the country’s leaders that “such a thing will not happen again on their soil.”
The attack comes at a pivotal moment in the now nearly two-year-old war in Gaza, as the Trump administration is making a renewed push for a ceasefire deal and Israel is preparing for a new ground offensive.
Earlier on Tuesday, Israel ordered the total evacuation of Gaza City in anticipation of the operation, which has been codenamed “Gideon’s Chariots II” as a follow-up to the last major ground offensive into the enclave over the summer. Israel has also been blowing up residential high-rise buildings in the city that it says are used as Hamas military positions. Even amid these preparations, some have questioned whether Israel’s exhausted military is really about to go through with another major ground operation.
