Top Hamas leaders were reportedly killed in an Israeli brazen, pinpoint air attack on the terror organization’s office at Doha, Qatar on Tuesday. 

“The days that terrorist leaders enjoy impunity anywhere on earth are over,” Prime Minister Netayahu said, addressing supporters at the American embassy at Jerusalem. He noted that Israel acted independently, and is taking “full responsibility” for the operation. “This action can open the door to an end of the war,” he said.    

President Trump termed the operation “unfortunate,” but praised the killing of Hamas leaders. The White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt noted that the president was notified of the attack “by the United States military” on Tuesday morning. She said that the president, through his envoy Steven Witkoff, notified the Qataris in advance and vowed that such operations would never happen again.

“Unilaterally bombing inside Qatar, a sovereign nation and close ally of the United States that is working very hard and greatly taking risks with us to broker peace, does not advance Israel or America’s goals,” Ms. Leavitt said. “However, eliminating Hamas, who have profited off the misery of those living in Gaza, is a worthy goal.” 

Mr. Trump, she added, “wants all of the hostages in Gaza and the bodies of the dead released, and this war to end now.” He spoke with Mr. Netanayhu afterwards and conveyed these messages to him and to the Emir of Qatar.    

While the Israeli operation seems to have been planned months in advance, Mr. Netanyahu tied its timing to Monday’s terror attack at Jerusalem, which killed six bus passengers and injured many others. The perpetrators came from villages near the Palestinian Authority’s capital at Ramallah. 

Among those who were targeted at Doha were the commander of the West Bank Hamas branch, Zaher Jabarin, his Gaza counterpart, Khalil al Hayya, and other Qatar-based Hamas bigwigs who were in the office at the time. Confirmation of deaths are yet to be made.

According to Israeli sources, another Qatar-based Hamas leader, Khaled Mashaal, was away from the organization’s office building at the time. “Mashaal would be the closest Israel would consider leaving alive, for future negotiations,” the founder of the Middle East Media Research Institute, Yigal Carmon, tells the Sun. “Mashaal isn’t a moderate by any means, but he’s a better actor than the others.”   

The Israel Defense Force confirmed in a statement that its jets struck at the posh Katara section of Doha. Top Hamas officials have long resided in Qatar, a country that also hosts America’s largest Air Force base in the Mideast at Al Udeid. Jets presumably could not operate in proximity to that base without first coordinating with Washington. 

Shortly after the strike, though, Mr. Netanayahu attempted to distance America from the Israeli operation. “Today’s action against the top terrorist chieftains of Hamas was a wholly independent Israeli operation,” he said in an X posting. “Israel initiated it, Israel conducted it, and Israel takes full responsibility.”

In the past, Israel has studiously avoided targeting Hamas officials who reside in Qatar or Turkey. A Hamas leader, Ismail Haniyeh, was killed last July in an Israeli operation at Tehran. In the last few weeks, though, Jerusalem officials made clear that no Hamas bigwig, regardless of their location, is immune. 

The attack occurred as backroom negotiations were conducted to end the war and release all hostages. Al Hayya was a top negotiator among the group, which habitually makes decisions by consensus. Most recently, America proposed the release of all 48 hostages, out of whom 20 are presumed alive, as a preliminary stage in several war-ending agreements.

Qatar, which since October 7, 2023, has positioned itself as a mediator in negotiations between Israel and Hamas, announced it suspended that role in response to the “cowardly” Israeli attack.  

In the last days the Israeli government, as well as intelligence officials, have reportedly concluded that Hamas will reject the proposal or will try to gain time. Mr. Trump has characterized his offer as “last warning” to Hamas.

In the aftermath of the October 7 massacre, the Doha-based Hamas leaders who were targeted Tuesday prayed and cheered at Qatar’s Al Jazeera, which broadcasted triumphant images from the horrors in southern Israel.

While Doha’s role as a peace mediator was hailed across the world and at Washington, Israelis consider that Gulf emirate as the Arab world’s top supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood and its Hamas offshoot. “For Hamas, Qatar is the hope, the resurrection, the future,” Mr. Carmon says.