Israel said the decision to attack the Hamas leadership on Qatari soil came in response to Monday’s shooting in Jerusalem in which six civilian bus passengers were killed in a shooting claimed by Hamas and the killing of four soldiers in Gaza on the same day.
Speaking at an event at the US embassy in Jerusalem on Tuesday night, Mr Netanyahu spoke of the significance of the shooting.
“The days when terrorist leaders enjoyed immunity anywhere are over. Our enemies need to know one thing: since the establishment of the state of Israel, Jewish blood is not cheap,” he said. “The strike in Qatar was carried out optimally and precisely.”
In the 1970s and ’80s, Mossad operatives targeted Palestinian militants from the Palestinian Liberation Organization, Black September and other groups across the Middle East and Europe. Hamas officials are now in a similar situation and may realise there is no safe haven for them anywhere.
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The Gaza war and the events that have unfolded in its wake throughout the region have led to a number of dramatic moments with the potential to change the course of events in the Middle East for years to come. Tuesday’s strike against the senior Hamas leadership abroad, after almost all the militant group’s leaders in Gaza had already been eliminated, was another of those moments.
Israeli leaders like to refer to Hamas leaders as “dead men walking” and, even while Israel was waiting for confirmation of exactly who had been killed in the strike, there was satisfaction across most of the political spectrum in Israel that some of the key architects of the October 7th, 2023, Hamas attack, which launched Israel’s longest-ever war, are no longer alive.
Yair Golan, head of the left-wing Democrats party, on a critical note, argued that Mr Netanyahu could have carried out such an attack on many occasions in the past. He expressed concern that the attack at this juncture could set back efforts to free the hostages, which, he said, should be Israel’s top priority.
It will take time before the full implications of the attack will play out.
After Qatar condemned the move as a flagrant violation of its sovereignty, it announced it was ending its role as a mediator to bring about a ceasefire.
Meanwhile, Israel is pressing ahead with its plans to capture Gaza City and the forced transfer of more than 800,000 residents. The strike on Doha came only hours after Israel warned all residents of Gaza City to leave their homes immediately. Defence minister Israel Katz warned Gaza “will be razed” unless Hamas surrenders.
According to some commentators, the Qatar strike could provide Mr Netanyahu with a “victory picture” enabling him to accept a Gaza ceasefire, but there was no immediate indication in the hours after the attack that Israel would pivot to pursue an end to the war.
Mr Netanyahu issued a statement in English stressing that the attack was a “fully independent Israeli operation”. But with the US regional military headquarters based in Qatar, it was clear that Israel had to inform Washington before such an attack could take place.
Israel informed Washington that the strike in Doha was coming, and the US in turn notified Qatar, according to the White House.
The families of the hostages expressed concern that Hamas will carry out revenge attacks against the hostages, saying they were following the developments in Doha “with deep concern and heavy anxiety”. A statement from the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said: “The chance of bringing them back now faces greater uncertainty than ever before.”
