The Israeli security establishment’s growing assessment is that Tuesday’s strike aimed at killing Hamas’s leadership in Qatar failed, according to an unconfirmed Israeli television report on Thursday evening, which said Israel has conveyed as much to the US.
The most recent indications received by the defense establishment are that the majority of the targets of the operation were not killed, Channel 12 news reported, citing an unnamed Israeli source who said Jerusalem was still holding out hope that one or two may have been killed, but that this too was seeming more doubtful.
In addition to the US, cabinet ministers were informed on Thursday that the operation likely failed to meet its intended goal, the report added.
Security officials discussing the strike are checking whether insufficient explosives were used or whether the Hamas officials managed to move to a different part of the targeted building before the bombs fell.
The bold Israeli airstrike on Tuesday targeted a meeting of Hamas’s top leaders as they were said to be gathered in Doha to discuss a new US-sponsored hostage-ceasefire proposal aimed at ending the war in Gaza.
The gathering was believed to include all of the terror group’s top leadership outside Gaza, including the leader of Hamas’s Gaza units, Khalil al-Hayya; Zaher Jabarin, who leads Hamas in the West Bank; Muhammad Darwish, the head of Hamas’s Shura Council; Nizar Awadallah; and Khaled Mashaal, the head of Hamas abroad.
Hamas has insisted that none of its leadership cadre was killed in the strike, but that five lower-level members were killed, including Jihad Labad, head of the office of top Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya; Himam al-Hayya, Khalil al-Hayya’s son; and three others described as “associates” — either advisers or bodyguards: Abdallah Abd al-Wahid, Muamen Hassouna and Ahmad Abd al-Malek. In addition, a Qatari security officer, Lance Corporal Badr Saad Mohammed al-Humaidi al-Dosari, was killed.
Yet despite Hamas’s claims, the outcome of the strike is still somewhat shrouded in obscurity, as neither al-Hayya nor any of the other top officials within the terror group were spotted at the funeral for the six men in Doha on Thursday, despite his son being among the dead.
Meanwhile, UN Security Council members issued a rare joint statement on Thursday condemning Israel’s strike in Doha.
Such a press statement required the backing of all members, including the US, which has pushed back on criticism of Israel to date at the council.
Its backing for the statement, therefore, was a reflection of US President Donald Trump’s unhappiness with the attack ordered by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
“The members of the Security Council expressed their condemnation of the recent strikes in Doha, the territory of a key mediator, on 9 September. They expressed deep regret at the loss of civilian life,” the statement said.
“Council members underscored the importance of deescalation and expressed their solidarity with Qatar. They underlined their support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Qatar, in line with the principles of the UN Charter.”
“Council members recalled their support for the vital role that Qatar continues to play in mediation efforts in the region, and alongside Egypt and the United States.”
“Council members underscored that releasing the hostages, including those killed by Hamas, and ending the war and suffering in Gaza must remain our top priority. In this regard, they reiterated the importance of the ongoing diplomatic efforts of Qatar, Egypt and the US, and called for the parties to seize the opportunity for peace,” the statement added.
Notably, the statement did not mention Israel by name.
The Security Council met later in the day on Thursday to discuss the Israeli attack at a meeting attended by Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, who accused Israel of trying to derail efforts to end the Gaza war and showing regard for the lives of hostages held by Hamas.
“We will continue our humanitarian and diplomatic role without any hesitation, in order to stop the bloodshed,” he told the UN body, after earlier suggesting a reassessment of his country’s mediation efforts following the Israeli strikes in Doha.
Defending the Doha strike, Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon said the attack “sends a message that should echo across this chamber.”
“There is no sanctuary for terrorists, not in Gaza, not in Tehran, not in Doha. There is no immunity for terrorists,” he told the Security Council meeting. “We will act against the leaders of terror wherever they are hiding.”
