Israel on Tuesday struck a gated compound in Doha’s Leqtaifiya district used by Hamas’ Political Bureau as senior figures weighed a US-backed ceasefire and hostage proposal. According to Israeli media, the attack involved 15 fighter jets, which dropped 10 bombs, killing six people. These included a Qatari security officer and the son of Khalil al-Hayya, a member of Hamas’ five-member temporary governing committee. Hamas said its top leadership survived in what appears to be the first publicly acknowledged Israeli strike on Qatari territory.
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Qatar’s Interior Ministry said the explosions in Doha were caused by an Israeli strike on residential headquarters used by Hamas leaders—an attack that jolted the Gulf state’s mediator role and injected fresh risk into ceasefire diplomacy. Israel’s government publicly asserted the operation was wholly Israeli.
The attack is unprecedented in history
A senior research assistant at a Doha-based policy institute, who spoke to The Media Line on condition of anonymity to discuss security-sensitive matters, said the incident shocked Qatari society: “The attack is unprecedented in history.” He called it “the first Israeli attack ever on a Gulf country” and an assault on “the sovereignty of a Gulf state.” It felt like a blow “to the Gulf as a whole,” he said, noting leaders of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the UAE phoned the emir. “For people inside the country, it was terrifying.” Staff in his office rushed to windows after a shockwave from a blast “right in the middle of Doha,” unlike earlier Iranian strikes outside the city.
Qatar chose to host a terror group on its soil, and that has consequences
Retired Gen. Yossi Kuperwasser, head of the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security, offered to The Media Line a starkly different assessment: “Qatar chose to host a terror group on its soil, and that has consequences.” He argued Doha cannot “hide behind” sovereignty claims, adding, “They were warned again and again that hosting Hamas was a mistake, and they ignored it.”
Israeli officials portrayed the strike as successful; the researcher rejected claims that the operation decapitated the leadership abroad: “This has already been settled: none of the people Israel intended to assassinate were actually hit.” He noted six deaths, including a Qatari citizen, security guards, and the son of Hamas’ chief negotiator, and said branding the strike “a major success” does not match “the reality on the ground.”
Kuperwasser countered that the strike should still be viewed as part of a sustained campaign against Hamas’ external command.
He said senior figures—including Khalil al-Khaya and likely Zahir Jabalin—were meeting to discuss President Trump’s proposal. “It is never possible to guarantee total success in such operations.” Israel has sometimes tried “eight times” before succeeding, he added. “But this strike was precise, and the intention was very clear: to deliver a terrible blow to Hamas.” Officials are “quite confident” in the results.
For years, Qatar has hosted Hamas’ political office—at Washington’s urging in 2011 to keep a negotiation channel open—and it is home to Al Udeid Air Base, a major US installation. Those roles helped make Doha a primary venue for ceasefire and hostage talks alongside Egypt; the strike now raises questions about the durability of that track and the Gulf state’s claim to neutrality.
The researcher warned that neutrality becomes harder to maintain once the neutral party is targeted.
Qatar has cultivated a trusted go-between role, he said, but “when the neutral party is attacked in the heart of its capital city, it comes under immense pressure.” The government wants to “safeguard its sovereignty” while still trying “to find a way forward” for Palestinians and the region.
He added that any response would be “a collective Arab response,” with Algeria seeking an emergency UN Security Council session; the form—political or economic—remains unclear, but “what is certain is that Qatar will not act unilaterally.”
Kuperwasser, by contrast, argued that hosting Hamas itself undermines neutrality.
This strike proves they are not safe anywhere
He said Hamas believed it was “untouchable” in Doha and elsewhere. “This strike proves they are not safe anywhere.” In his view, a country hosting a “terror group” cannot claim neutrality, and others should “stop giving Hamas refuge.”
The strike injected uncertainty into mediation efforts, including a US-backed proposal to free Israeli hostages and shape Gaza’s postwar future. The researcher emphasized Doha’s determination while conceding that prospects are bleak: “Qatari officials have already stated clearly that they will continue their mediation efforts,” and “they will not be deterred by attempts to derail negotiations.” Yet, he said, if one side is killing the other’s negotiators, talks will not “go very far” because such actions are “a bad faith effort” that “undercuts the credibility” of the process.