Israel strikes Hamas leadership in Qatar, which had been mediating a ceasefire in Gaza

The fate of around twenty hostages suspected of being still alive in Gaza and around 2 million Palestinians in Gaza, are at stake after the strike.

The families of the hostages that remain in Gaza have published a statement calling at the end of the war, saying that they were following the developments in Doha with “deep concern and strong anxiety”.

“The chance to bring them now faces greater uncertainty than ever, with a thing of absolute certainty – their time is exhausted,” they said.

A senior Qatari official being directly involved in the talks told NBC News that Qatar assesses whether the negotiations would continue.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the “completely independent Israeli operation” strike.

“Israel assumes full responsibility,” he said in a press release on X.

According to two US officials informed of the issue and a senior White House official, the Israeli government informed the United States that it was about to lead the management of Hamas before the strike. Officials said the United States did not have much notice and clearly indicated that America was not directly involved.

The attack followed Trump’s warning on Hamas on Sunday to agree on a cease-fire agreement which, according to him, had been accepted by Israel.

“This is my last warning, there won’t be another!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

A joint statement from the Netanyahu office and the Israeli Minister of Defense Israel Katz described the attack on Hamas as reprisals for “deadly attacks in Jerusalem and Gaza”. On Monday, two armed men opened fire during a bus stop in Jerusalem killing six people.

Hamas took responsibility for shots shortly before Doha’s strike.

“Cowardly” attack

The Qatari government condemned what he called an “loose Israeli attack”.

“This criminal assault is a blatant violation of all international laws and standards, and constitutes a serious threat to the security and security of Qataris and residents of Qatar,” the government said in a statement.

He said: “He will not tolerate this imprudent and irresponsible Israeli behavior, which continuously undermines the security of the region, or any action targeting its security and its sovereignty”.

The bombing was also condemned by the United Arab Emirates, who had seen significant warming of Israel in recent years with the Abraham agreements mediated by President Donald Trump.

The Ministry of Foreign Water Affairs has described the bombing of the so-called Hamas Political Affairs Bureau as “a dangerous attack on international law” and an “irresponsible escalation”.

Saudi Arabia, a regional power with which Israel sought to establish official relations, also condemned the attack as “brutal”.

The United States Embassy issued a shelter order on site for its installations after “missile strike reports occurring in Doha”.

This is the second time this year, Qatar has been struck by a strike as it plays the intermediary in the greatest geopolitical conflict in the region. Iran struck an American military base in Qatar in June after Israel made strikes against Iranian nuclear sites.

The attacks have cried through the Middle East since October 7, 2023, when an activist led by Hamas killed 1,200 people in Israel and removed around 250 others.

Since then, Israeli forces have killed more than 64,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to health officials in the enclave, have driven most of the residents of their homes and destroyed most of the region’s infrastructure.

Tuesday’s attacks follow a model, Israel struck two other militias supported by Iran in the region, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen, who both launched attacks on Israel or those that support Israel after October 7.

Lebanon has paid the price of Hezbollah’s support after Israel targeted its management in Beirut and southern Lebanon. Last year, Israel killed the longtime leader of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, in a large strike in the suburbs of Beirut.

This sparked a war between Hezbollah and Israel, with thousands of civilians inappropriate in the northern regions of Israel and southern Lebanon.

In another marked escalation, Israel described its attacks on Iranian nuclear installations in June to stop the “existential threat” of an Islamic republic armed with nuclear weapons. Unprecedented strikes have triggered an exchange of short shots but raised between Iran and Israel this summer.

The Israeli army warned residents of Gaza City to go to a “humanitarian zone” designated last week when it intensified military operations in the northern region of Gaza. A famine was officially declared to Gaza City last month by the integrated classification of the food security phase after an increase in famine deaths and months of help blocked by the enclave.