September 9, 2025 | 09:49 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Israeli military has admitted that an explosion in Doha, the capital of Qatar, was a deliberate attempt to assassinate a senior Hamas leader and other high-ranking officials of the Palestinian group, as reported by Al Jazeera on Tuesday, September 9, 2025.
This marks Israel's first attack against Hamas in Qatar, a pivotal mediator in the ongoing ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas.
As reported by CNN, Hamas leaders have utilized the Qatari capital as a base outside of Gaza for many years. Israel has conducted bombing campaigns in Gaza, Lebanon, Yemen, and Syria, in addition to daily attacks in the occupied West Bank.
"The IDF and Shin Bet, through the Air Force, recently carried out a targeted attack on the top leadership of the Hamas terrorist organization," the military said in a statement on Tuesday.
The statement further claimed, "The members of the leadership who were attacked led the terrorist organization’s activities for years, and are directly responsible for carrying out the October 7 massacre and waging the war against the State of Israel."
The statement also asserted that prior to the attack, "steps were taken to minimize harm to uninvolved people, including the use of precision weapons and additional intelligence information."
In a statement, Majed Al Ansari, a spokesperson for the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said his country "condemns in the strongest terms" the attack, which he claimed was carried out on a residential building housing several members of Hamas's political bureau.
"This criminal attack constitutes a flagrant violation of all international laws and norms and a serious threat to the security and safety of Qataris and residents of Qatar," the statement read.
In addition, Qatar emphasized that it would not tolerate Israel's reckless behavior, its ongoing interference with regional security, or any actions targeting Qatar's security and sovereignty.
An investigation is underway at the highest level, and further details will be announced as soon as they are available. A senior Hamas official confirmed to CNN that the group's negotiators were indeed the targets of the attack in Doha.
On Monday, Hamas chief negotiator Khalil Al-Hayya met with Qatar's Prime Minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, in Doha.
Residential Area Targeted
The location of the attack in the Qatari capital was near a residential area, not an isolated zone, as reported by Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent Suhaib Al-Assa. Al-Assa stated that security officials have prioritized securing the incident site and assessing the damage and casualties.
"The security procedures are very complex because we are talking about an extremely sensitive site – a site that is very close to residential buildings and people’s homes," he said.
Gaza Genocide
The attack in Doha occurred less than two weeks after Israeli military chief Eyal Zamir pledged to target Hamas leaders internationally, following a situational assessment meeting with his top commanders. "Most of Hamas’s leadership is abroad, and we will reach them as well," Zamir said on August 31st.
Al Jazeera correspondent Nida Ibrahim stated that the unprecedented attack in Doha, which has hosted negotiations for a potential ceasefire agreement in Gaza, reflects how bold Israel is in being able to carry out genocide and get away with it.
Reporting from Amman, Jordan, Al Jazeera's Hamdah Salhut said the attack in a third country is similar to the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed in Tehran.
She cautioned that the Israeli military's claim of taking steps to minimize civilian casualties should not be accepted without scrutiny, given the significant number of civilian deaths in the Gaza Strip over the past two years.
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