The Israeli military announced Tuesday that it had struck senior Hamas leaders, shortly after AFP journalists in Doha reported explosions in the Qatari capital, where the group’s political bureau is based.
“The IDF and ISA carried out a precise strike targeting the senior leadership of the Hamas terrorist organisation,” the military said, without clarifying the location of the strike.
An AFP correspondent in Doha confirmed that blasts rocked a Hamas compound in the city.
“For years, these Hamas leaders have directed the organisation’s operations, bear responsibility for the October 7, 2023 massacre, and have been orchestrating the war against Israel,” the military added.
The strikes came less than two weeks after armed forces chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir pledged to target Hamas leaders abroad. “Most of Hamas’s leadership is outside Gaza, and we will reach them as well,” Zamir said on August 31.
Culture Minister Miki Zohar posted on X: “May all your enemies perish, Israel.”
Over the course of the nearly two-year Gaza war, Hamas and Israel have engaged in multiple indirect ceasefire negotiations mediated by Qatar, Egypt, and the United States. Despite two temporary truces, the talks have failed to produce a permanent end to the conflict.
On Sunday, Hamas said it was ready to “immediately sit at the negotiating table” following what it called “some ideas from the American side aimed at reaching a ceasefire agreement.”
That same day, U.S. President Donald Trump issued what he called a “last warning” to Hamas, demanding the release of hostages taken during the October 2023 attack that triggered the war.
