New Delhi: Israel carried out multiple airstrikes in the Katara district of Qatar, reportedly targeting several Hamas leaders including the group’s chief negotiator Khalil al-Hayya.
The Israeli Defense Forces and Israel Security Agency Shin Bet issued a statement stating that the country’s air force recently carried out a precise strike targeting Hamas’s top leadership.
“The leadership members who were attacked have led the terrorist organisation’s activities for years and are directly responsible for the 7 October massacre and managing the war against the State of Israel,” the statement read.
It added: “Before the strike, steps were taken to minimise harm to uninvolved civilians, including the use of precision munitions and additional intelligence information. The IDF and Shin Bet will continue to act resolutely to defeat the Hamas terrorist organisation responsible for the 7 October massacre.”
The statement came just minutes after at least 8 explosions were reported from Qatar, which has hosted several top Hamas leaders for years.
The Qatari foreign ministry condemned “the cowardly Israeli attack”, claiming it targeted the residential headquarters of several Hamas Political Bureau members in Doha.
“The criminal attack is a violation of all international laws and a serious threat to the security and safety of Qataris and residents,” Doha said.
Saudi state-owned Arabic TV news channel Al Arabiya reported that according to their preliminary information, al-Hayya had indeed been killed in the Israeli strike in Qatar. However, reports later emerged saying Hamas has clarified that al-Hayya escaped but his son and his close aide were killed along with body guards.
A source from Hamas told Al Arabiya that the negotiating delegation was targeted during its meeting in Qatar, where the Palestinian group’s political bureau is based.
Other Hamas leaders at the site of the blasts included Khaled Mashal, Mohammed Darwish, Razi Hamad and Izzat al-Rishq, it is learnt.
According to The New York Times, Khalil al-Hayya, Hamas’s deputy commander in the Gaza Strip who was also in Tehran, was the one who identified the body of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed in a targeted operation last year.
The NY Times had also reported that according to the minutes from an August 2023 meeting, now slain Hamas military leader Yahya Sinwar’s deputy, al-Hayya, discussed the plan for the 7 October attack the previous month with the senior Iranian commander, Mohammed Said Izadi of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, who was based in Lebanon and helped oversee Tehran’s relations with Palestinian armed groups.
This is an updated version of the report.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)