Days after the attack, Qatar is still silent about the fate of senior Hamas figures. Gulf officials revealed:"They are in a secure compound without phones, it is forbidden to talk to anyone outside." At the same time, Egypt is tightening security for jihadist leader Ziad Nahala and those released in deals who are staying in Cairo - and sending a threatening message to Israel."The equation has changed: Egypt is no longer just a mediator, but a protector of the resistance," Palestinian officials claimed.
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Israel's failed attack on Hamas headquarters in Doha
led Egypt to take unprecedented security measures around senior Palestinian officials in Cairo - including those released in hostage swap deals. In recent days, Egyptian intelligence services have strengthened the defense system around senior Hamas and Islamic Jihad officials residing in the country. Among the prominent names: Islamic Jihad Secretary-General Ziad Nahala, and alongside him Palestinians who were released in hostage deals and received in Egypt as part of special stay arrangements.
According to Palestinian sources who spoke to Ynet, Egyptian intelligence conveyed a clear message to Jerusalem and Washington: any attempt to harm Palestinian leaders on Egyptian soil - directly or indirectly - will have"very serious consequences in the Middle East." The message was perceived as an almost public declaration, according to which Cairo is not prepared to serve as a convenient ground for assassination operations, but on the contrary - as a safe haven for the leaders of terrorist organizations. According to the same sources, this is an unprecedented embrace that also includes support for the Palestinian Authority.
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"The equation has changed." Emir of Qatar Al-Thani alongside senior Hamas official Al-Hayya, and Egyptian President El-Sisi alongside Jihad leader Nahala (Photo: Khalil Hamra/AP, Majid Asgaripour/Reuters)
The Egyptian embrace is not limited to Islamic Jihad. The leadership of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine has also moved its activities to Cairo, and its leaders are in the city under the direct protection of intelligence officers. This transition marks a profound change in Cairo's policy: from a status of relatively neutral mediator to an official host of Palestinian terrorist elements, while providing a security umbrella reminiscent of that previously practiced in Damascus and Tehran.
Ziad Nahala, 72, born in Khan Yunis, is currently considered one of the most senior and influential figures in the Palestinian arena. He has served as Secretary-General of Islamic Jihad since 2018, following the death of his predecessor Ramadan Shelah. As early as 1971, he was arrested by Israel and sentenced to life imprisonment for his activities within the framework of the Arab Liberation Front. In 1985, he was released in the Jibril deal along with more than 1,100 security prisoners, and has since been appointed by Fatahi Shikaki to establish the organization's military wing - the"Al-Quds Brigades."
Islamic Jihad Secretary General Ziad Nahala. One of the architects of the strategic alliance between Iran and Palestinian terrorist organizations (Photo: Majid Asgaripour / Reuters)
In 1988, Nahala was arrested again for his role in leading the First Intifada, and in August of that year he was deported to Lebanon along with other senior figures in the movement, where he deepened his ties with Iran and Hezbollah and became one of the architects of the strategic alliance between Tehran and the Palestinian terrorist organizations. Nahala also maintains close ties with Hamas, but is careful to maintain an independent organizational identity and a more assertive policy toward Israel.
From Israel's perspective, Nahala is currently ranked as the number three target for assassination, after senior Hamas leaders. The United States also defines him as a"senior global terrorist," and the US Treasury Department has even offered a reward of millions of dollars for information leading to his capture.
According to Palestinian sources, the sponsorship that Egypt grants to Nahala and senior Palestinian organizations sends a double message: to Israel and the US - that the equation has changed and any harm to Egyptian territory will be considered a serious violation of sovereignty; and to the Palestinians - that Egypt is no longer just a mediator, but a protective state, providing a security umbrella for the most senior resistance leaders.
The building that was attacked in Doha. Hamas leaders were apparently in another building (Photo: REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa)
Meanwhile, even many days after the attack in the capital of Qatar in an attempt to behead the Hamas leadership abroad, an attack that is believed to have failed, it is still unclear exactly what happened to the senior figures, headed by exiled Hamas-Gaza leader Khalil al-Hayya, whose son was killed and Hamas claimed that he himself survived - but did not publish any photos of him.
Qatar itself is still maintaining silence regarding the fate of senior Hamas officials, who Ronen Bergman revealed last week were probably not even in the building that was attacked.
This morning, Bergman published on Ynet and Yedioth Ahronoth.
Because two sources in the Gulf who are familiar with what is happening in Doha said that the Qataris are imposing the highest level of security and information security rules on the entire affair, including the victims or anyone who was near the scene of the attack that destroyed part of the Hamas office complex.
As for the organization's leadership, the original target of the bombing, the sources say that they are all in Doha - in a secure Qatari compound, without telephones or any other transmitting devices, and they are forbidden from talking to anyone outside the compound.
Although the attack on Qatar does not appear to have achieved the desired goal of beheading the top Hamas leadership, Israel is still not explicitly describing it as a failure, and
Still trying to figure out what the implications of the attack will be on efforts to broker a deal
Even after Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed al-Thani's meeting yesterday in New York with US President Donald Trump, Israel had difficulty deciphering the new roadmap of all the players, and whether Qatar would pull its hands from the negotiations for a deal, push back, or understand that this is a new opportunity that must be exploited against Israel and Hamas.
Leveraging the crisis with Qatar may lead to another possibility: Israel's choice of Egypt as the leading mediator with Hamas for a deal, as senior IDF and Shin Bet officials have repeatedly recommended, due to Qatar's constant support and long-term funding of Hamas."The action in Doha created a stir that, if we want, can be leveraged to our advantage. Within a week, we will know whether our direction is potentially good or bad," the IDF said last night. The defense establishment hopes that the picture will become clearer after
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio's visit to Israel today
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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu himself hinted last night that Israel has not abandoned the goal of eliminating the Hamas leadership, no matter where the terrorist organization's senior leaders are hiding."They don't care about the people in Gaza. They have blocked all attempts at a ceasefire in order to drag out the war endlessly," he wrote on his X Network account, in English."Getting rid of them will remove the main obstacle to releasing the hostages and ending the war."
