Qatar digs through the rubble of Israel’s attack on Hamas leaders in Doha
DOHA, Qatar (AP) — Qatari security forces and emergency fire personnel deployed Wednesday around the site of an Israeli attack the previous day on Hamas’ political leaders who had gathered in the capital of the energy-rich Middle East country to consider a U.S. proposal for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
Tuesday’s strike on a building in Doha killed at least six people in a neighborhood that is home to foreign embassies and schools.
The strike on the territory of a U.S. ally drew widespread condemnation from countries in the Mideast and beyond. It also marked a dramatic escalation in the region and risked upending talks aimed at ending the war and freeing hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza.
Buildings still standing
From a distance beyond the security cordon, the buildings that had housed the Hamas leadership in Doha could be seen still standing. But one room in particular appeared to have been the target of the strike — its walls were collapsed, and gray rubble could be seen inside.
Security forces and emergency personnel surrounded the site and blocked traffic as additional civil defense vehicles arrived.
A gas station to the side of the building, directly abutting the premises, did not appear to have suffered any fire damage. The windows of the building next to the one targeted remained intact, suggesting that whatever munitions the Israeli military used was a low yield weapon designed only to hit the building they suspected the Hamas leaders were meeting in.
Israel hasn’t specified what it used to carry out the strike, beyond saying it employed precision-guided weapons meant to minimize collateral damage.
Hamas said in a statement Tuesday that its top leaders survived the strike but that five lower-level members were killed, including the son of Khalil al-Hayya — Hamas’ leader for Gaza and its top negotiator — as well as three bodyguards and the head of al-Hayya’s office. Hamas, which has sometimes only confirmed the assassination of its leaders months later, offered no immediate proof that al-Hayya and other senior figures had survived.
Hitting an American ally
Qatar maintains a major arsenal of air defense systems, including both American-made Patriot and Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD batteries.
However, it doesn’t immediately appear that Qatari air defenses engaged during the attack, which occurred just before 4 p.m. on Tuesday.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Qatar’s prime minister and foreign minister, said Tuesday night that “the Israeli enemy used weapons that were not detected by radar.”
He did not elaborate but the statement suggests Israeli fighter jets could have launched so-called “stand-off” missiles at a distance to strike the site without actually entering Qatari airspace — possible over the Persian Gulf.
The United States has said it warned Qatar before the strike. Qatar disputes that, with Sheikh Mohammed saying that “the Americans sent a message 10 minutes after the attacks took place, saying they were informed that there was going to be a missile attack on the state of Qatar.”
Qatar is also home to the U.S. military’s forward headquarters for its Mideast-based Central Command. The headquarters, located at the sprawling Al-Udeid Air Base, also has American-run radars and defense systems and recently hosted U.S. President Donald Trump on his tour of the region in May.
Stalled Gaza talks
Israel’s attack in Qatar threatens to upend both negotiations over a ceasefire in Gaza and Israel’s efforts to reach out to Gulf Arab states, New York-based think tank The Soufan Center said in an analysis Wednesday.
“The attack has profound strategic implications because by striking a Gulf Cooperation Council state, Israel risks undermining the Abraham Accords and unraveling the fragile normalization framework with Arab partners,” the center said, referring to the 2020 diplomatic recognition deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates.
“Israel’s strike on Qatar raises the uncomfortable question: if a state like Qatar, with its carefully cultivated neutrality and commitment to peacemaking, is punished for its role, who will dare step into the vacuum of mediation in the future?” the center asked.
Qatar’s local media hewed tightly to government statements issued after the attack. Qatar is ruled by a hereditary emir and tightly restricts speech like other Gulf Arab nations.
Al Jazeera, the outspoken satellite news network funded by Qatar’s government, described the attack in its headlines as a “brutal aggression.” The Israeli government has banned Al Jazeera from operating in Israel or the West Bank amid the Israel-Hamas war, though its journalists still broadcast from the Gaza Strip.
The state-run Qatar News Agency noted that the country’s ruling emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, held a series of calls with world leaders, including Trump.
Sheikh Tamim condemned the attack and according to a readout of the call, said that Qatar holds Israel “responsible for its repercussions, in light of the policy of aggression they adopt that threatens the region’s stability and obstructs efforts to de-escalate and reach sustainable diplomatic solutions.”
Qatar Airways, a major East-West airline that operates out of the country’s massive Hamad International Airport, sought to assure passengers their flights were safe and would not be interrupted.
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Associated Press writer Elena Becatoros in Athens contributed to this report.
By JON GAMBRELL
Associated Press
