Israel carried out a rare strike on the Qatari capital of Doha on September 9, targeting Hamas’ headquarters and senior leadership. Explosions were reported in the Katara neighborhood, where Hamas leaders were allegedly meeting to discuss a U.S.-brokered Gaza ceasefire. Israel said the operation was coordinated with Washington, though the identities and status of the intended targets remain unclear.
The attempted assassination followed Hamas’ September 8 bus attack in Jerusalem that killed six, as well as warnings from both Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz and President Trump. Trump had publicly declared on September 7 that Hamas must accept the ceasefire proposal or face consequences. Qatar’s prime minister had also met Hamas leaders just a day earlier, urging them to accept the U.S. offer.
The strike, marking the first time Israel has attacked targets in Qatar, was dubbed “Summit of Fire.” The joint operation by the IDF and Shin Bet security agency fits Israel’s pattern of “decapitation” operations and appears aimed at pressuring Hamas while straining its relationship with Qatar.
Hamas maintains an officially recognized political bureau in Doha with proper office space and residential facilities for senior leadership. The office was formally established in 2012, after President Obama asked Qatar to host Hamas leaders to facilitate indirect communication. At the time, the U.S. considered Doha, one of its closest Arab allies, a more accessible base than Hamas’s bureau in Syria. Since then, the Doha office has become Hamas’s main political hub.
Several senior Hamas figures reside in Qatar. Ismail Haniyeh, who led the political bureau until his assassination by Israel in Iran in 2024, had lived in Doha since 2016. Khaled Mashal, the group’s former political chief, relocated from Syria in 2012 and now heads Hamas’s diaspora office from Qatar. Khalil al-Hayya, who oversees communications, is also based there and has served as Hamas’s chief negotiator.
The attack targeted Khalil al-Hayya and other senior members of Hamas’s political bureau, including Khaled Mashal. Saudi network Al Hadath initially reported that Mashal and three others were killed, but Hamas official Suhail al-Hindi later told Al Jazeera the leadership survived. Palestinian sources confirmed that two people died in the attack: Himam al-Hayya, the son of Khalil al-Hayya, and Jihad Labad, director of his office, but no top leaders were among the dead.
Israel’s government described the operation as retaliation for “murderous attacks in Jerusalem and Gaza.” Just one day earlier, on September 8, Hamas gunmen opened fire at a Jerusalem bus stop, killing six. Israeli officials said Washington was notified in advance of the Doha strike, though only with limited warning, and stressed that the U.S. was not directly involved.
Qatar’s Interior Ministry confirmed the location was hit, while officials condemned Israel for striking “residential buildings.” The Qatari Foreign Ministry went further, denouncing the “cowardly Israeli attack” and declaring that Qatar “will not tolerate this reckless and irresponsible Israeli behavior.”
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also condemned the strike, calling it a “flagrant violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Qatar.” Yet neither Qatari officials nor the UN have secured the release of the Israeli hostages taken on October 7, 2023, nor persuaded Hamas to surrender or accept a ceasefire. In other words, useless people complained while Israel acted decisively.
Although Doha has become Hamas’s most visible political base, the group’s leadership has shifted repeatedly since the bureau was created in 1992, moving from Amman to Damascus before settling in Qatar. Hamas cadres remain spread across Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Turkey, Egypt, and other countries, making those locations potential future targets.
Qatar has now suspended its role in mediating a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, citing a lack of progress and bad faith on both sides. Hamas has so far refused to accept the peace deal, and by carrying out a bus attack on Israelis earlier in the week, it has clearly chosen continued hostilities despite heavy losses and mounting civilian casualties in Gaza.
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