Israel strikes Hamas leadership in Qatari capital: Live updates

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to hold a news conference following today’s airstrikes, which he described as a ‘surgical precision strike’.

He said those targeted in Doha earlier today, organised as well as celebrated the deaths of October 7.

He contented their strike was ‘completely justified’ after two gunmen killed six people on a bus in Jerusalem on Monday, for which Hamas claimed responsibility.

Our enemies must know one thing: That since the establishment of the state of Israel, Jewish blood will not be spilt,’ he said.

We are in the midst of a campaign to defeat Hamas and release all of the hostages.

We are in the midst of a campaign to defeat Hamas and release all of the hostages.

We have delivered great blows to all parts of the axis of evil.

Together we stand, together we fight, and with God’s help we will be victorious.’

Benjamin Netanyahu said he ordered the strikes targeting Hamas top chiefs in Doha following a deadly shooting in Jerusalem a day earlier claimed by the Palestinian militant group.

‘Yesterday, following the deadly attacks in Jerusalem and Gaza, Prime Minister Netanyahu instructed all security agencies to prepare for the possibility of targeting Hamas leaders,’ a joint statement from Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz said.

‘Today at noon, in light of an operational opportunity… the prime minister and the defence minister decided to implement the directive given last night.’

Hamas tdday claimed responsibility for the shooting that killed six people on the outskirts of Jerusalem.

Two gunmen boarded a bus on Monday in one of the deadliest attacks the city has witnessed in recent times.

Police shot dead two gunman. A third suspect was arrested a short while after.

Israel carried out what it called a precise strike on Hamas‘ senior leadership in Qatar on Tuesday, with the Palestinian group claiming the IDF targeted negotiators.

Several blasts were heard in Doha, the Qatari capital, this afternoon as the IDF claimed responsibility for the unprecedented strikes.

The IDF said that it and the Israel Security Agency, Shin Bet, had ‘conducted a precise strike targeting the senior leadership’ of Hamas.

‘Prior to the strike, measures were taken in order to mitigate harm to civilians, including the use of precise munitions and additional intelligence,’ it said, vowing to ‘continue to operate … to defeat the Hamas terrorist organisation’.

Read the full story by James Clark, here:

The Israeli army announced Tuesday that the Air Force launched a precise strike on Hamas’s senior leadership in Qatar, with the Palestinian group claiming the IDF targeted negotiators.

Several explosions were heard in Doha, the Qatari capital, this afternoon with sources saying that the attack targetted Hamas’s headquarters while a discussion was underway there on a U.S. ceasefire proposal.

Israel confirmed that it targetted top official Khalil al-Hayya, the head of Hamas’s negotiating team, in the attack. Other senior figures understood to be in Qatar include Khaled Mashal, Zaher Jabarin, Mohammad Ismail Darwish, Mousa Abu Marzouk, Hussam Badran, Tahar Anunu and Nizar Awadallah.

While conditions in the rubble-strewn Gaza Strip continue to deteriorate after more than 700 days of war, senior Hamas officials including Mashal and Marzook have been enjoying a life of luxury in Qatar.

Mashal is the head of the group’s political bureau abroad who, alongside Hamas senior Marzouk, has a networth of more than $3billion, according to the Embassy of Israel in the US.

The exorbitant wealth of the seniors in the Palestinian group may raise eyebrows when considering the everyday suffering in the Strip, where nearly 12,000 children under five years were identified as having acute malnutrition in July, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Conditions in the territory have long been dire, with Gaza referred to by some as the world’s ‘largest open air prison’.

Even before the outbreak of war in the wake of Hamas’s October 7 terror attack on Israel, half of Palestinians living in Gaza depended on food supplied by the United Nations.

Netanyahu has said the conflict in Gaza could be ‘ended immediately’ if Hamas accepted US President Donald Trump’s proposals.

‘Stand up for your rights and for your future. Make peace with us, and accept president Trump’s proposal,’ he said.

Over the weekend, Hamas said it was on board with ‘some ideas’ about how a ceasefire agreement in the war-torn conclave can be reached.

Earlier, Donald Trump posted on Truth Social: ‘Everyone wants the Hostages HOME. Everyone wants this War to end! The Israelis have accepted my Terms. It is time for Hamas to accept as well.”

‘I have warned Hamas about the consequences of not accepting. This is my last warning, there will not be another one!’

The UK Government does not believe Israel‘s actions in the Gaza strip constitute genocide, a letter from the Foreign Office has said.

Previously, the Labour Government said it was a question for the courts – not a national government – if Israel had committed a genocide.

But last week, a letter to the international development committee from the then-Foreign Secretary David Lammy showed a shift in position.

In the correspondence, seen by The Times, Mr Lammy said an assessment conducted by the Foreign Office found Israel’s actions in Palestine were not genocide.

The letter, which was sent ahead of Sir Keir Starmer‘s cabinet reshuffle following Angela Rayner‘s resignation, said: ‘As per the Genocide Convention, the crime of genocide occurs only where there is specific “intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group”.

‘The government has not concluded that Israel is acting with that intent.’

This is the first time the UK Government has explicitly confirmed that it does not believe what is transpiring in Gaza is a genocide.

Previously in May, Hamish Falconer, Minister for the Middle East, said to MPs that the government’s position was that ‘any formal determination’ of genocide was a matter for a ‘competent court’, not ‘non-judicial bodies’.

Downing Street has warned against a ‘further escalation in violence’ following Israel’s strike on Hamas leaders in Doha, Qatar.

It comes ahead of a meeting between Sir Keir Starmer and Israeli President Isaac Herzog in the UK this week.

Israel’s military on Tuesday said it ‘conducted a precise strike targeting the senior leadership of the Hamas terrorist organisation’.

Qatar has hosted negotiations between Israel and Hamas in efforts to end the conflict triggered by Hamas’s deadly assault on Israel on October 7 2023.

Responding to Israel’s strike on the Qatari capital, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s official spokesman told reporters: ‘You’ll appreciate these are emerging reports. We are monitoring those as more details emerge.

‘We’ve been clear that Hamas are a vile terrorist organisation responsible for an abhorrent attack on Israel on October 7, but we do not want to see a further escalation in violence which risks further destabilisation in the region.

‘Our overarching priority is to see an end to the horrific suffering in Gaza, starting with an immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages and a surge in humanitarian aid, leading to … peace for Israelis and Palestinians, peace in the wider region.’

No 10 denied having any prior knowledge of the attack, saying it was ‘an Israeli-led operation’ and ‘an entirely independent operation’.

Sir Keir’s meeting with Mr Herzog, expected on Wednesday, will go ahead, Downing Street confirmed.

His spokesman said: ‘The Prime Minister will be meeting the Israeli president, where he’ll raise the intolerable situation in Gaza, the action Israel must take to end the horrific suffering we’re witnessing. It cannot go on any longer.’

No 10 underlined Sir Keir’s ‘revulsion’ at the suffering in Gaza, but did not repeat Health Secretary Wes Streeting’s calls for Mr Herzog to answer for alleged war crimes and ethnic cleansing committed by his country.

The Cabinet minister said earlier on Tuesday that Mr Herzog needs to explain how he believes the Israeli government can achieve its aim in Gaza ‘without genocide’.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog has said it was ‘important and correct’ to target Hamas’s leadership, via X today.

He went on to denounce Khalil al-Hayya, Hamas’s chief negotiator, but did not confirm if he was the direct target of today’s airstrike.

Herzog added that al-Hayya had ‘the blood of thousands on his hands, one of the architects of the October 7th massacre, as are many of his colleagues.’

Attempts to kill Hamas leaders and al-Hayya, who met to talk about Donald Trump’s ceasefire proposal, were not successful.

However, al-Hayya’s son, Hammam, and one of his top aides were killed by the airstrikes in the Qatari city, according to Al Jazeera.

Contact with three other bodyguards was also lost, the publication has said.

A member of Hamas’s political bureau, has confirmed to Al Jazeera that the group’s leadership who were targeted in the Doha attack have survived the attack.

Families of Israeli hostages in Gaza have been hit with a new wave anxiety with today’s news.

Einav Zanguaker, whose son is being kept prisoner, said: ‘I am shaking with fear.

‘It could be that in these very moments the Prime Minister has actually assassinated my Matan. Why does he insist on blowing up any chance of a deal?’

It has not yet been confirmed if any senior Hams officials have durvived the attack on Doha.

According to the BBC, they had met for talks over the latest American proposals to bring the war in war-torn conclave to an end.

Families of those held hostage have continued to claim Benjamin Netanyahu of endangering their children’s lives.

Middle East and Arab countries have reacted in horror at Israel’s attack on Doha.

Qatar branded the missile strikes as a ‘criminal assault’ and ‘cowardly’ act which was a ‘flagrant violation’ of international laws.

Mohammed bin Salman, crown prince of Saudi Arabia, warned the kingdom would deploy ‘all capabilities’ to support Qatar after the attack, according to Saudi state news.

It’s unclear if this could involve military support.

The statement also warned Israel of ‘grave consequences’ resulting from its ‘persistence in criminal transgressions’.

also hit out and said it ‘strongly condemns’ the strike, which it said sets a ‘dangerous precedent’ and ‘undermines’ global efforts for de-escalation in the region.

This is the moment Israel’s missiles struck a building in Doha, as the IDF sought to target Hamas’ top terror leaders in Qatar today.

Pope Leo, who typically refrains from speaking off the cuff, expressed unusually forceful concern on Tuesday about the consequences of Israel’s strike in Qatar.

‘There’s some really serious news right now: Israel’s attack on some Hamas leaders in Qatar,’ the pontiff told journalists outside his summer residence in Castel Gandolfo.

‘The entire situation is very serious,’ Leo said. ‘We do not know how things will go. It is really serious.”

Leo, the first US pope, has tended to take a diplomatic approach that is more muted=than his predecessor, Pope Francis. He usually sticks to the Vatican’s careful diplomatic language, but has been ramping up criticism of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.

The pope met with Israeli President Isaac Herzog at the Vatican last week, after which the Vatican said Leo had lamented the ‘tragic situation in Gaza’ with Herzog.

Leo spoke today after news that Israel had launched a strike in Doha, which it said was aimed at top Hamas leaders including Khalil al-Hayya, its exiled Gaza chief and top negotiator.

‘We must continue working and insisting on peace,’ the pope told the journalists, who also asked for comments about the situation in Gaza.

Reports claims all ceasefire negotiations between Isreal and Hamas in Qatar have been cancelled.

It followed the Israeli airstrike against senior Hamas officials in Doha earlier today.

Palestinian media have claimed two people were killed in Israel’s strike in Qatar – but that top Hamas chiefs have survived.

Reports name the dead as Himam al-Hayya, the son of Hamas leader in Gaza Khalil al-Hayya, and Jihad Labad, the director of Khalil al-Hayya’s office.

According to the reports, no other Palestinians were killed in the attack, The Times of Israel has claimed.

However, these reports have yet to be independently verified.

The raid against Hamas chiefs in Doha had been in the works for several months, accord to Israel’s Army Radio.

Israel ‘decided to accelerate preparations for the battle’ after Hamas ‘showed greater intransigence’ over a peace deal, it says.

‘Weekly meetings were held in the Israeli military to ensure the readiness of all intelligence and operational bodies for the operation,’ the report claims.

The onslaught came hours after Hamas claimed responsibility for a deadly gun attack in Jerusalem.

Defence analysts say Israel’s airstrike today would not necessarily have been in direct response to Monday’s attack.

However, some experts claim it may have swayed decision amongst Israeli leadership to launch such an audacious air strike into Qatar.

It’s unclear just what sort of geopolitical impact this will have on Israel.

The United States was told about the attack before it happened. However, it’s understood Qatar was not informed.

Here is everything Qatar had to said on the attack against Hamas chiefs in the country’s capital of Doha:

Today’s strike in Qatar came shortly after Hamas claimed responsibility for a gun attack in Jerusalem that killed six people on Monday.

The strikes also come less than two weeks after Israeli armed forces chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir vowed to target the group’s leaders based abroad.

‘Most of Hamas’s leadership is abroad, and we will reach them as well,’ Zamir said on August 31.

‘May all your enemies perish, Israel,’ Culture Minister Miki Zohar posted on X.

Hamas and Israel have held multiple rounds of indirect ceasefire negotiations brokered by Qatar, Egypt and the United States throughout the nearly two-year Gaza war. Despite two temporary truces, the talks have failed to bring a lasting end to the war.

Khalil Al-Hayya, a senior Hamas official targeted by Israel in Qatar on Tuesday, has become an increasingly central figure in the leadership of the Palestinian militant group since both Ismail Haniyeh and Yahya Sinwar were killed last year.

Israeli officials told Reuters the attack was aimed at top Hamas leaders including Hayya, its exiled Gaza chief and top negotiator. Two Hamas sources told Reuters the group’s ceasefire negotiation delegation in Doha survived the attack.

At the heart of ceasefire negotiations during the war that erupted two years ago, Hayya has been widely seen as the group’s most influential figure abroad since Haniyeh was killed by Israel in Iran in July 2024.

He is part of a five-man leadership council that has led Hamas since Sinwar was killed by Israel last October in Gaza.

Hailing from the Gaza Strip, Hayya has lost several close relatives – including his eldest son – to Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip, and is a veteran member of the Islamist group.

Regarded as having good ties with Iran, a vital source of arms and finance for Hamas, he has been closely involved in the group’s efforts to broker several truces with Israel, playing a key role in ending a 2014 conflict and again in attempts to secure an end to the current Gaza war.

Born in the Gaza Strip in 1960, Hayya has been part of Hamas since it was set up in 1987.

The distraught mother of an Israeli hostage still held captive in Gaza fears Benjamin Netanyahu’s strike in Doha on Hamas may have effectively “assassinated” her son.

Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan Angrest is one of the few remaining hostages being held in the war-torn enclave, now says he could be executed in retaliation for today’s bombing.

‘I’m shaking with fear. It could be that in these very moments the prime minister has actually assassinated my Matan, sealed his fate,’ she said following the attack in Qatar.

‘Whoever decides to intentionally endanger my Matan’s life is murdering him. Why does he insist on blowing up any chance of a deal? It’s my child’s life, my Matan’s life is hanging in the balance!

‘Over and over and over again the prime minister sabotages the deal. I’m fed up. End this war already and bring everyone back in a comprehensive agreement.’

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday condemned Israel’s strikes as a ‘flagrant violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Qatar’.

He said Qatar has been playing a very positive role to try and achieve a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of all hostages held by Hamas.

‘All parties must work towards achieving a permanent ceasefire, not destroying it,’ Guterres told reporters.

Saudi Arabia says it warns of ‘dire consequences’ over Israel’s ‘persistence in criminal violations’.

It’s the latest country to condemn the attack, alongside the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Iran.

Saudi Arabia condemned the strike in Doha ‘in the strongest terms’, calling it ‘brutal Israeli aggression and the flagrant violation of the sovereignty of the sisterly State of Qatar’.

It also warned of ‘the grave consequences resulting from the Israeli occupation’s persistence in its criminal transgressions and its blatant violation of the principles of international law and all international norms’

Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly viewed the attack live has it took place.

Qatar has reportedly claimed Israel’s strike against Hamas’s top terrorist chieftains is ‘complicating’ efforts to bring Israeli hostages back from Gaza.

According to Sky News, a Qatari diplomatic source said: ‘Hamas received the new proposal from us, which we obtained from [US special envoy Steve] Witkoff last week in Paris,” the source said.

‘The prime minister met with them yesterday. They decided to meet again today to discuss the proposal, arriving from Turkey.

‘However, as has happened before, the Israelis undermined hopes for peace, further prolonging the war and complicating efforts to bring back the hostages.’

Iran has hit out over Israel’s attack in Qatar today.

The country – which earlier this year launched its own vicious missile bombardment against Israel – has blasted the IDF’s operation against Hamas in Doha.

In comments to Iranian media, Tehran described the attack as a ‘dangerous’ move.

A foreign ministry spokesman condemns the ‘violation to international law’.

Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad, which has fought alongside Hamas in Gaza, condemned Israel’s targeting of its ally’s leaders in the Qatari capital of Doha.

Israel’s ‘targeting of a meeting of leaders of… Hamas in the Qatari capital, Doha, is a blatant criminal act that violates all human standards and values, as well as the most basic international laws and norms,’ Islamic Jihad said in a statement.

Israel launched its controversial offensive into Qatar – a neutral state – to target key Hamas officials.

It’s believed the top chiefs of the terror group were in Doha as part of peace negotiations.

According to a senior official from the region, those present at the meeting attacked in today were:

• Khalil al Hayya (pictured below)
• Khaled Mashaal
• Muhammad Darwish
• Razi Hamad
• Izzat al-Rishq

Benjamin Netanyahu’s office has released a statement after the Israeli strikes in Doha.

‘Today’s action against the top terrorist chieftains of Hamas was a wholly independent Israeli operation,’ it said..

‘Israel initiated it, Israel conducted it, and Israel takes full responsibility.’

It comes amid reports in the Israeli media that claimed Donald Trump allegedly ‘gave the green light’ for the strike.

The comment was citied on Israel’s Channel 12 news site.

The Israeli Defence Force claimed the Hamas chiefs it targeted were responsible for the organisation’s terrorist operations and October 7 massacre.

Read the IDF’s full statement, below:

American officials in Qatar have been told to seek cover following the Israeli attack against Hamas.

In the first official US comment on the raid, the American embassy in Doha confirmed it has seen ‘reports of missile strikes occurring’ in the Qatari capital.

‘The US Embassy has instituted a shelter-in-place order for their facilities,’ the embassy said in a social media post.

It also urged American citizens in Qatar to shelter in place.

Dramatic video has revealed the aftermath of the Israeli airstrike against Hamas in Qatar.

Leaders for the Gazan terror group were in Doha as part of a peace deligation trying to negotiate a ceasefire.

Footage from the scene appears to show black plumes of smokes raising from the building.

Qatar’s foreign ministry has lashed out at an Israeli strike against Hamas in Qatar, branding it ‘cowardly’ and a ‘flagrant violation’ of international law.

In strong words, spokesman Majed Al-Ansari said Qatar ‘condemns in the strongest terms’ the attack, which he claimed was carried out on residential buildings housing several members of the Hamas 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,’ he said in a statement.

‘While strongly condemning this attack, the State of Qatar affirms that it will not tolerate this reckless Israeli behaviour and its continued tampering with regional security, as well as any action targeting its security and sovereignty. Investigations are under way at the highest level, and further details will be announced as soon as they become available.’