‘Hamas’ Leadership Was Not Hit,’ Qatari Expert Tells TML, While Israel Claims Success
Competing narratives from Jerusalem and Doha collide with a contested notification timeline and new doubts about the viability of US-backed talks
Israel on Tuesday struck a gated compound in Doha’s Leqtaifiya district used by Hamas’ Political Bureau as senior figures weighed a US-backed ceasefire and hostage proposal. According to Israeli media, the attack involved 15 fighter jets, which dropped 10 bombs, killing six people. These included a Qatari security officer and the son of Khalil al-Hayya, a member of Hamas’ five-member temporary governing committee. Hamas said its top leadership survived in what appears to be the first publicly acknowledged Israeli strike on Qatari territory.
Qatar’s Interior Ministry said the explosions in Doha were caused by an Israeli strike on residential headquarters used by Hamas leaders—an attack that jolted the Gulf state’s mediator role and injected fresh risk into ceasefire diplomacy. Israel’s government publicly asserted the operation was wholly Israeli.
The attack is unprecedented in history
A senior research assistant at a Doha-based policy institute, who spoke to The Media Line on condition of anonymity to discuss security-sensitive matters, said the incident shocked Qatari society: “The attack is unprecedented in history.” He called it “the first Israeli attack ever on a Gulf country” and an assault on “the sovereignty of a Gulf state.” It felt like a blow “to the Gulf as a whole,” he said, noting leaders of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the UAE phoned the emir. “For people inside the country, it was terrifying.” Staff in his office rushed to windows after a shockwave from a blast “right in the middle of Doha,” unlike earlier Iranian strikes outside the city.
Qatar chose to host a terror group on its soil, and that has consequences
Retired Gen. Yossi Kuperwasser, head of the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security, offered to The Media Line a starkly different assessment: “Qatar chose to host a terror group on its soil, and that has consequences.” He argued Doha cannot “hide behind” sovereignty claims, adding, “They were warned again and again that hosting Hamas was a mistake, and they ignored it.”
Israeli officials portrayed the strike as successful; the researcher rejected claims that the operation decapitated the leadership abroad: “This has already been settled: none of the people Israel intended to assassinate were actually hit.” He noted six deaths, including a Qatari citizen, security guards, and the son of Hamas’ chief negotiator, and said branding the strike “a major success” does not match “the reality on the ground.”
Kuperwasser countered that the strike should still be viewed as part of a sustained campaign against Hamas’ external command.
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He said senior figures—including Khalil al-Khaya and likely Zahir Jabalin—were meeting to discuss President Trump’s proposal. “It is never possible to guarantee total success in such operations.” Israel has sometimes tried “eight times” before succeeding, he added. “But this strike was precise, and the intention was very clear: to deliver a terrible blow to Hamas.” Officials are “quite confident” in the results.
For years, Qatar has hosted Hamas’ political office—at Washington’s urging in 2011 to keep a negotiation channel open—and it is home to Al Udeid Air Base, a major US installation. Those roles helped make Doha a primary venue for ceasefire and hostage talks alongside Egypt; the strike now raises questions about the durability of that track and the Gulf state’s claim to neutrality.
The researcher warned that neutrality becomes harder to maintain once the neutral party is targeted.
Qatar has cultivated a trusted go-between role, he said, but “when the neutral party is attacked in the heart of its capital city, it comes under immense pressure.” The government wants to “safeguard its sovereignty” while still trying “to find a way forward” for Palestinians and the region.
He added that any response would be “a collective Arab response,” with Algeria seeking an emergency UN Security Council session; the form—political or economic—remains unclear, but “what is certain is that Qatar will not act unilaterally.”
Kuperwasser, by contrast, argued that hosting Hamas itself undermines neutrality.
This strike proves they are not safe anywhere
He said Hamas believed it was “untouchable” in Doha and elsewhere. “This strike proves they are not safe anywhere.” In his view, a country hosting a “terror group” cannot claim neutrality, and others should “stop giving Hamas refuge.”
The strike injected uncertainty into mediation efforts, including a US-backed proposal to free Israeli hostages and shape Gaza’s postwar future. The researcher emphasized Doha’s determination while conceding that prospects are bleak: “Qatari officials have already stated clearly that they will continue their mediation efforts,” and “they will not be deterred by attempts to derail negotiations.” Yet, he said, if one side is killing the other’s negotiators, talks will not “go very far” because such actions are “a bad faith effort” that “undercuts the credibility” of the process.
Kuperwasser maintained that the strike aligns with Washington’s approach. “This operation is part of the pressure that President Trump himself promised.” He said Hamas was warned of “consequences,” that Israel will not let the hostage issue “paralyze” it, and, “We are ready to act anywhere, even in Qatar, and Hamas should take the lesson.”
One delicate complication is that Washington in 2011 asked Qatar to allow Hamas to open a political office in Doha, a step meant to enable back-channel contacts; the question of what the US knew in advance about this strike remains contested. Qatar says it received notice only after explosions began; Israeli and other accounts say Washington had some prior awareness.
The researcher stressed that context: “It was the United States that asked Qatar to host Hamas, precisely so that there would be a channel for negotiations.” If Washington revises that stance, he said, Doha may follow—but for now the focus is the strike on a civilian area, not the office itself.
He added that Qatar was kept in the dark until after the strike: “The Qataris were only informed by the Americans ten minutes after the attack had taken place.” The spokesperson could still hear explosions, he said, suggesting “no prior notification” and raising questions about trust with the US.
Kuperwasser acknowledged that Washington was notified—barely: “There was notification to the Americans shortly before the strike, and they did not tell Israel to stop.” He said the operation was calibrated to limit collateral damage and, in his view, fits with US pressure on Hamas.
The incident also appears to harden Qatar’s stance toward Israel. The researcher noted that Doha has long tied normalization to Palestinian statehood. The researcher said, “The Qataris have been consistent for years: normalization will only come after justice for the Palestinians and the creation of a Palestinian state. The Saudis say the same. This attack doesn’t change Qatar’s policy—it simply makes normalization far less likely. Why would Qatar trust a country that has just bombed its sovereign territory?”
Kuperwasser emphasized that Israel’s priority is victory, not normalization: “We want this war to end quickly, but it must end with an Israeli victory.” That means freeing hostages and removing Hamas, he said. President Trump “understands this,” and “further normalizations in the region are for now off the table.”
As a major non-NATO ally and close US security partner that hosts Al Udeid Air Base—and as a central mediator with Egypt—Qatar sits at the intersection of American power and regional diplomacy. With Israel saying it “takes full responsibility,” and reactions pouring in from foreign capitals, the fallout is already reshaping diplomatic calculations across the Gulf.
