Unprecedented Isaeli air-strikes on buildings in Qatar's capital Doha Sept. 9 apparently targeted senior members of Hamas' external leadership. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed the operation, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying in a statement that the attack was "a wholly independent Israeli operation." He added: "Israel initiated it, Israel conducted it, and Israel takes full responsibility." However, the White House quickly confirmed it was informed of the operation beforehand. In a post on TruthSocial [26] some hours after the attack, Donald Trump said the raid was "a decision made by Prime Minister Netanyahu, it was not a decision made by me." The Qatari government later denied Trump's claim that the White House had sent a warning before the attack. The strikes came as Hamas leaders were considering the latest ceasefire proposal, and after the attack Qatar said it is temporarily suspending its mediation efforts.
A later statement by White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said: "Unilaterally bombing inside Qatar, a sovereign nation and close ally of the United States that is working very hard and bravely taking risks with us to broker peace, does not advance Israel or America's goals." Yet, she added: "However, eliminating Hamas, who have profited off the misery of those living in Gaza, is a worthy goal."
Qatar hosts al-Udeid air base [27], headquarters for US Central Command's regional operations and host to some 8,000 US troops.
Hamas said [28] six people had been killed in the strikes, including Abdullah Abdul Wahid (Abu Khalil), the son of the organization's acting chief, Khalil al-Hayya [29]. The statement said the top leadership, including the negotiations team, had survived.
The key targets in this operation were named as Khalil al-Hayya; veteran top Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal [30] who was replaced by Ismail Haniyeh [31] in 2017; and Zaher Jabarin, leader of the Hamas financial bureau. Their fates remain unknown at this time. (JP [32], ToI [33], LWJ [34], BBC News [35], Al Jazeera [36], NewsHour [37])
Was Hamas' Qatar leadership responible for October 7?
Israel of course portrayed the targeted leaders as masterminds of the Oct. 7, 2023 [38] attacks, as well as the previous day's deadly militant attack [39] in Jerusalem. However, an Arabic-language account in the London-based pan-Arab newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat [40], cited by the Jerusalem Post [41] on Jan. 10, 2024, said that only five Hamas leaders made the decision for the Oct. 7 attack—all based in Gaza, and not inlcuding any of those named as targeted in the Qatar raid.
The report, based on Palestinian sources close to the leadership of Hamas' military wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, named the decision-makers as Yahya Sinwar [31], the Hamas leader in Gaza (now believed to be dead); Muhammed Deif [31], leader of the al-Qassam Brigades, Muhammed Sinwar (Yahya's brother), Rouhi Mushtaha, a figure close to Sinwar; and Ayman Nofal, former head of intelligence for al-Qassam Brigades, assassinated by Israel shortly after the October 2023 attacks. The account protrays the decision to launch the attack as a coup by Sinwar against the Qatar-exiled leadership.
Mousa Abu Marzouk [42], head of the Hamas foreign-relations office in Qatar, said earlier this year that if he knew what the consequences would be from the October 2023 attacks, he would have not have supported the assault. "If it was expected that what happened would happen, there wouldn't have been Oct. 7," Marzouk was quoted in the New York Times [43] on Feb. 24, 2025. This statement does imply that he had been aware of the attacks beforehand. Two weeks after the attacks, in a seeming bid for international legitimacy, Marzouk led a Hamas delegation to Moscow, where they met with Russian deputy foreign minister Mikhail Bogdanov [44]. (NYT [45], Oct. 26, 2023)
Drone terror targets flotilla in Tunis?
On the same day as the Qatar strikes, organizers of a flotilla carrying aid for Gaza said their lead ship, the Familia Madeira, was hit by a drone while anchored at the port of Sidi Bou Said in Tunisia. A video [17] that was posted [18]by the Global Sumud Flotilla [46] appears to show a lit projectile falling from the sky onto the vessel before flames erupt on the front deck. The ship sustained some damage, according to later footage [19] posted on social media.
"The boat is sailing under the Portuguese flag and all six passengers and crew are safe," the group said in a statement. "Fire damage was caused to the main deck and below deck storage. Acts of aggression aimed at intimidating and derailing our mission will not deter us. Our peaceful mission to break the siege on Gaza and stand in solidarity with its people continues with determination and resolve."
The statement said the vessel "was struck by a drone." Tunisia's Interior Ministry said reports of a drone strike "have no basis in truth," Reuters [47]reported.
Yet just hours later, on the morning of Sept. 10, the Flotilla reported that a second vessel was struck by a drone. The group said the British-flagged Alma sustained fire damage to its top deck
United Nations Human Rights Council special rapporteur Francesca Albanese [48], who lives in Tunisia, (and is now facing US sanctions [49]), said in a video [50]after the first apparent strike: "If it's confirmed that this is a drone attack, it will be an assault, an aggression against Tunisia and against Tunisian sovereignty. Again, we cannot keep on tolerating this and normalizing the illegal."
The Global Sumud Flotilla's most prominent member is Swedish activist Greta Thunberg [20], internationally known for her climate advocacy [21] and now a leading figure [22] in the Freedom Flotilla Coalition [23]. (The Hill [51], Politico [52], The Independent [53], The Guardian [54])
Two days before the apparent strike, more than 1,000 people gathered at the Sidi Bou Said harbor to welcome the flotilla, which had just arrived from Barcelona. "We all know why were are here," Thunberg told the crowd. "Just across the water there's a genocide going on, a mass starvation by Israel's murder machine." (ToI [55])
The dramatic developments of Sept. 9 came hours after Israel's military warned all of Gaza City's residents to evacuate before a planned offensive to take full control of the city, where hundreds of thousands of people are living under famine [56] conditions. (The Guardian [57])
