The Israeli military announced it targeted senior Hamas leaders on Tuesday amid reports of explosions in Doha, the Qatari capital. Notably, Doha serves as the base for Hamas’s political bureau. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) and the Israel Security Agency (ISA) executed a precise strike against the Hamas leadership. However, the military did not specify the exact location of the strike.
Furthermore, Qatar said Israeli strikes targeted the homes of several members of Hamas’s political bureau residing in the Gulf country, where the militant group’s senior leadership is based, while a Hamas official in Gaza told AFP the group’s negotiators had been “targeted” in Doha.
Explosions Reported in Doha
An AFP journalist in Doha reported hearing explosions near a Hamas compound in the city as the Israeli military stated, “For years, these members of the Hamas leadership have led the terrorist organization’s operations.” They emphasized that these leaders are directly responsible for the brutal October 2023 massacre. Furthermore, they have orchestrated and managed the ongoing war against Israel.
Qatari civilians documented Israeli aircraft bombing residential complexes in Doha, targeting Hamas leaders while negotiating Trump’s latest deal. pic.twitter.com/hcjkU9I97V
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) September 9, 2025
These strikes occurred less than two weeks after armed forces chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir vowed to target Hamas leaders abroad, who stated, “Most of Hamas’s leadership is abroad, and we will reach them as well.” In a show of support, Culture Minister Miki Zohar posted on X, “May all your enemies perish, Israel.”
Qatar condemned the attack, saying it had targeted residential buildings housing Hamas political bureau members.
“The State of Qatar strongly condemns the cowardly Israeli attack that targeted residential buildings housing several members of the political bureau of Hamas in the Qatari capital, Doha,” foreign ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari said in a post on X.
Ceasefire Negotiations Continue
Hamas and Israel have engaged in multiple rounds of indirect ceasefire negotiations with Qatar, Egypt, and the United States have brokered these discussions throughout the nearly two-year Gaza war. Despite two temporary truces, the talks have not led to a lasting resolution.
On Sunday, Hamas expressed its readiness to “immediately sit at the negotiating table.” They referred to “some ideas from the American side aimed at reaching a ceasefire agreement.”
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump issued a “last warning” to Hamas, insisting that the group must accept a deal to release hostages taken during the October 2023 attack that ignited the war.
Meanwhile, Iran, a key backer of Hamas, condemned the attack as a “gross violation of all international rules and regulations, a violation of Qatar’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity, and an attack on Palestinian negotiators”.
The attack came as Israel stepped up a deadly assault on Gaza City, the Palestinian territory’s largest urban centre.
On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a video statement addressing residents of the city: “I say to the residents: you have been warned, leave now! “All of this is just a prelude, just the opening, to the main intensified operation — the ground manoeuvre of our forces, who are now organising and assembling to enter Gaza City,” he said.
