According to the reports on Wednesday (10 September), Israel has admitted to targeting Hamas negotiators in Qatar, saying the strike was intended to remove those it described as hardliners obstructing ceasefire efforts for Gaza. President Isaac Herzog, speaking from London, said the main target was Khalil al-Hayya, Hamas’s chief negotiator based in Doha, who he accused of repeatedly blocking peace proposals. Herzog claimed al-Hayya was directly involved in planning the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel and bore responsibility for the deaths of thousands of Israelis. Other Hamas politburo members, including Khaled Mashal, were also reportedly targeted.
The airstrike, carried out in Doha, killed six people, among them a Qatari security officer. Hamas stated that five of its members were also killed but denied that any of its negotiating team had died. Herzog was unable to confirm if al-Hayya or the other Hamas leaders were killed in the attack. The strike immediately provoked strong condemnation from Qatar, which denounced Israel’s actions as reckless and a violation of sovereignty, and criticism also poured in from Arab leaders, the UK’s Sir Keir Starmer, and former US President Donald Trump.
Israeli sources suggested that the strike was aimed at cutting out the “extremists” within Hamas’s leadership-in-exile in Qatar, who were seen as obstructing peace talks. Instead, Israel hinted it may now focus on dealing with Izz al-Din al-Haddad, the Gaza-based commander of Hamas’s Qassam Brigades, who they described as a pragmatic leader with influence on the ground. Israel believes that the exiled Hamas leadership is dominated by hardliners, while leaders in Gaza may be more open to negotiation given the devastation caused by the ongoing conflict.
However, the operation has fueled anger across the region and risks severely straining relations with Qatar, which hosts the largest US military base in the Middle East. The attack has also raised concerns that Israel’s tactics could further endanger the remaining hostages in Gaza, while its continuing military campaign has already forced over a million Palestinians to flee Gaza City. With more than 67,000 people reported killed in Gaza, over half of them women and children, the strike underscores both the escalating violence and the fragile prospects of achieving a ceasefire.
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Israel strike on Hamas negotiators in Qatar sparks global outrage and diplomatic fallout
