JERUSALEM, Israel – In an unprecedented move on Tuesday, Israel targeted the top leadership of Hamas living in Doha, the capital of Qatar.
Some believe the attack could help bring the nearly two-year war in Gaza to an end.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended the attack on Thursday, announcing, “At noon today, I convened the heads of Israel’s security organizations and authorized a surgical precision strike on the terrorist chiefs of Hamas. These are the same terrorists who planned – terrorist chiefs who planned, launched, and celebrated – the horrific massacres of October 7th.”
The prime minister confirmed that Israel carried out the strike alone.
“On this day, as in previous days, Israel acted wholly independently, wholly independently, and we take full responsibility for this action,” he said. “And this action can open the door to an end of the war – (The) end of the war in Gaza.”
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Qatar condemned the strike.
Qatari Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani stated, “The Israeli attack that took place today on Qatari soil can only be described as state terrorism carried out by someone like Netanyahu within the context of these systematic policies and his ongoing attempts to destabilize regional security and stability. This is a clear message to the entire region.”
The White House called the attack an “unfortunate incident” in a carefully worded statement.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced, “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. However, eliminating Hamas, who have profited off the misery of those living in Gaza, is a worthy goal.”
Leavitt said President Trump spoke with both Netanyahu and Qatar’s leader, Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, and assured them that it won’t happen again.
Middle East expert Eugene Kontorovich believes the attack demonstrates the need to take President Trump at his word.
“This is the beginning of true justice for the October 7th attacks,” Kontorovich told CBN News. “The people who were killed in today’s attacks are the top brass of Hamas. They’re the people who organized, who authorized the October 7th attack. They are the Adolf Hitlers, let’s say, of the Islamo-fascist regime of Hamas. And finally, they’re being called to account.”
Kontorovich contends that the U.S. gave the green light for the Doha strike, and that shouldn’t come as a surprise.
“It’s only a surprise because we’re still not used to taking President Trump at his word,” Kontorovich noted. “He said yesterday, there needs to be a complete end of the war. There needs to be a release of all the hostages. Hamas needs to stop with its excuses. This is his last ultimatum. There will be consequences.”
Military and intelligence officials are still trying to determine how many leaders were eliminated in the strike. The attack came as Israel is poised to take over the last remaining Hamas stronghold in Gaza City. The coming days will tell whether the terror group’s leaders have been sufficiently persuaded to release the hostages and end the war.
