What we know so far about Israeli attack on Qatar

What happened

• Witnesses reported plumes of smoke rising in Doha’s embassy district. An AFP journalist saw smoke behind a low-rise building.

• Israel’s military said its air force struck residential buildings housing Hamas’s political bureau members.

• The Israeli army statement accused those leaders of being “directly responsible for the October 7, 2023 massacre” and orchestrating the current war.

• A Hamas official in Gaza told AFP that members of its negotiating team in Doha had been targeted.

Qatar’s reaction

• Qatar’s Foreign Ministry condemned what it called a “cowardly Israeli attack” and a violation of its sovereignty.

• The ministry said the strikes targeted residences of Hamas political bureau members who have long been based in Doha.

• Qatar, along with Egypt and the United States, has mediated multiple ceasefire rounds since the war began.

International response

• The US Embassy in Doha issued a shelter-in-place order, urging citizens to follow embassy updates.

• Iran condemned the strike as a “gross violation of international law and Qatar’s territorial integrity”.

Wider context

• On August 31, Israeli armed forces chief Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir warned that Hamas leaders abroad would be targeted: “Most of Hamas’s leadership is abroad, and we will reach them as well.”

• The strike came as Hamas negotiators in Doha were considering a new US ceasefire proposal, described by Washington as a final chance to halt the war. Hamas has called the plan a “humiliating surrender document” but said it would respond.

• The Doha attack coincided with Israel’s intensifying offensive on Gaza City, where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned civilians on Monday to evacuate ahead of a larger ground assault.