The deputy of a 7/10 architect who has good ties to Iran and took over after Sinwar's assassination, the former head of the political bureau who survived an Israeli assassination attempt, the"economic brain" of Hamas, the head of the Shura Council and the only senior official who"made Sinwar sweat": the senior officials who may have been eliminated in Operation "Fire Summit"

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Explosions were heard in Doha, the capital of Qatar, on Tuesday afternoon, and eyewitnesses said smoke was seen rising over the city's Katara district. In the wake of reports of the attack in the Arab world, a senior Israeli official confirmed that an attack had indeed been carried out in Doha - the first ever - targeting senior Hamas figures. The IDF and Shin Bet said in a joint statement a little later that the air force"targeted the top leadership of the terrorist organization," and the operation was dubbed "Fire Summit."

Members of Hamas's leadership council live abroad - Q

Consists of five senior figures in the terrorist organization

: Muhammad Darwish, who serves as head of Hamas' Shura Council; Khalil al-Hayya, who serves as Hamas' leader in the Gaza Strip and head of the organization's negotiating team; Zaher Jabarin, who serves as Hamas' leader in the West Bank; Nizar Awdallah, one of Hamas' senior figures in the Gaza Strip; and Khaled Mashaal, who is considered Hamas' leader abroad. According to Arab reports, the five were among the targets of the operation.

Arab reports mentioned the names of other senior Hamas figures who may have been killed in the attack: Taher al-Nono, a senior Hamas figure and advisor to the head of the political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed in Tehran; Musa Abu Marzouk, one of the founders of Hamas and former head of the political bureau; Hussam Badran, a senior Hamas figure who was released in the Shalit deal; Razi Hamad, a senior Hamas figure who was one of the mediators in the Shalit deal; Izzat al-Rishq, a senior Hamas figure abroad. These are the five members of the Hamas leadership council who were targeted in Operation"Fire Summit":

9 Viewing the gallery

The building that was reportedly attacked

Khalil Al-Hayya (Photo: Khalil Hamra/AP)

Khalil Al-Hayya

Khalil al-Hayya, who was Sinwar's deputy, left the Gaza Strip before October 7 - and since then has been considered one of the senior figures leading the negotiations for a ceasefire and a hostage deal on behalf of the terrorist organization. Al-Hayya also has good ties with Iran - he went there after Haniyeh's assassination to attend his funeral. The New York Times reported that al-Hayya was part of the"small military council" that Sinwar convened for two years to plan the October 7 attack - and was also the special envoy for the secret talks that took place on the subject with Iran and Hezbollah.

When Al-Hayya was asked last year if he regretted the October 7 massacre, he replied no - despite the destruction in the Gaza Strip:"Let's say they destroy Hamas. Will the Palestinian people disappear?"

Khaled Mashal

Meshaal currently serves as Hamas's leader abroad, and is considered one of the most powerful people in the organization's political bureau, but his views differed from those of Yahya Sinwar - also regarding the relationship with Iran. He headed Hamas's political bureau for 21 years, from 1996 to 2017, when he decided to end his position, and was replaced by Haniyeh. In 2021, he was re-elected as Hamas's leader abroad in an attempt to return to the Palestinian political arena. In 1997, we will recall, he survived an assassination attempt on his life in a failed Mossad operation in Jordan.

Khaled Mashal (Photo: Osama Faisal, AP)

Mashaal was indicted last year in the US for involvement in the October 7 massacre. He lived a luxurious life in Qatar, and his fortune was previously estimated at four to five billion dollars.

Zaher Jabarin

Jabarin is considered the "economic brain" of Hamas. He served as Hamas's prisoner file holder and was the terrorist organization's deputy leader in Judea and Samaria until

The assassination in Beirut of Saleh al-Arouri

.

In a comprehensive article in the Wall Street Journal

After that assassination, it was written that Jabarin had in recent years become the de facto overseer of an economic empire that the United States estimates is worth hundreds of millions of dollars, an empire that finances Hamas' terrorist operations.

Zaher Jabarin (Photo: Mahmud Hams / AFP)

Mohammad Darwish (left) in a meeting with Iranian President Massoud Pazakhian (Photo: Iran's Presidential website/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS)

He is the one who manages the organization's financial ties with Iran on behalf of Hamas, and according to American and Israeli sources, ensures the transfer of funds from Tehran to the Gaza Strip. He is also responsible for a series of companies that transfer regular income to Hamas, and operates a network of private supporters and businessmen who transfer funds to the terrorist organization.

Muhammad Darwish

The relatively unknown member of the council is Muhammad Ismail Darwish, also known as Abu Omar Hassan, who heads Hamas's Shura Council. A week after Haniyeh's assassination in Tehran, it was reported that he had been chosen to replace him as head of the political bureau - but Hamas later announced that Yahya Sinwar had been appointed as his successor.

Nizar Awdallah

Known as the one who "made Yahya Sinwar sweat" in the 2021 Hamas leadership elections in the Gaza Strip, after nearly defeating him. Awdallah is one of the founders of the Hamas movement, and was also close to the organization's spiritual leader and founder, Ahmed Yassin. He was previously a member of the negotiating team for the Shalit deal, and currently, according to reports, also serves in a prominent and central role in the negotiations between Israel and Hamas over the hostage deal.

The IDF and Shin Bet emphasized today, in reference to the historic attack, that"the members of the leadership who were attacked led Hamas' activities for years, and are directly responsible for carrying out the October 7 massacre and waging the war against the State of Israel." It was also stated that "prior to the attack, steps were taken to minimize harm to uninvolved people, including the use of precision weaponry and additional intelligence information. The IDF and Shin Bet will continue to act with determination to defeat the Hamas terrorist organization responsible for the October 7 massacre."

At the end of the previous month, Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir issued a threat to senior Hamas officials abroad, who had hardly been harmed so far during the war. After

The assassination of Hamas military wing spokesman Abu Obeida

Zamir said that "most of the Hamas leadership has been eliminated, and the hand is still outstretched. Most of the remaining Hamas government is sitting abroad - and we will reach them too. The IDF is acting offensively, with initiative and operational superiority in all arenas and at all times." At the moment, as stated, the fate of the senior Hamas officials who were attacked is not yet clear, with conflicting reports being published in the Arab world about their fate.