Condemnations as Israel military hits Hamas leaders in Doha

Deadly Israeli air strikes targeted senior Hamas leaders in US ally Qatar, the venue of repeated rounds of Gaza peace talks, on Tuesday, 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 […]

Deadly Israeli air strikes targeted senior Hamas leaders in US ally Qatar, the venue of repeated rounds of Gaza peace talks, on Tuesday, 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 President Donald 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 underway.

Qatar condemned the strikes, which it said targeted the homes of several members of Hamas’s political bureau residing in the Gulf country, where the group’s leadership is based.

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 were 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.

“Today at noon, in light of an operational opportunity… the prime minister and the defence minister decided to implement the directive given last night.”

Tuesday’s strikes come less than two weeks after armed forces chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir vowed to target the group’s leaders based abroad.

“Most of Hamas’s leadership is abroad, and we will reach them as well,” Zamir said on August 31.

“May all your enemies perish, Israel,” Culture Minister Miki Zohar posted on X.

 

Condemnation from leaders

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.

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas condemned Israeli air strikes on Doha targeting leaders of Hamas on Tuesday, warning they threatened regional security and stability.

“His excellency stated that the brutal Israeli attack on Qatar constitutes a blatant violation of international law and an escalation that threatens regional security and stability,” Abbas’s office said in a statement reported by the official Palestinian news agency, Wafa.

Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad, which has fought alongside Hamas in Gaza, on Tuesday condemned Israel’s targeting of its ally’s leaders in the Qatari capital Doha.

Israel’s “targeting of a meeting of leaders of… Hamas in the Qatari capital, Doha, is a blatant criminal act that violates all human standards and values, as well as the most basic international laws and norms,” Islamic Jihad said in a statement.

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Tuesday slammed Israel’s attack on Hamas in Qatar, calling the strike a “criminal act” in a call with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.

“His Royal Highness the Crown Prince affirmed the Kingdom’s full solidarity with… Qatar and its condemnation of the blatant Israeli attack on the State of Qatar, which constitutes a criminal act and a flagrant violation of international laws and norms,” read a statement published by the Saudi Press Agency.

Iran, a key backer of Hamas, condemned on Tuesday as a “gross violation” strikes targeting the Palestinian militant group’s leaders in Qatar.

“This extremely dangerous and criminal action is a gross violation of all international rules and regulations, a violation of Qatar’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei told state TV, after Israel said it targeted Hamas leaders without specifying where.