Israeli Strike on Hamas Leaders in Doha Triggers Massive Search Operation 2025
Qatari officials confirm search operations are ongoing at the site of a reported Israeli strike targeting Hamas leaders. The extent of the damage is still unclear.”
Search Continues at Site of Israeli Strike, Says Qatar
The Qatari government reports that two missing individuals are still being sought and human remains identified following a Tuesday Israeli attack on top Hamas leaders in Doha.
Israeli media reports that there is anxiety in Israeli military ranks that the extremely contentious strike failed.
The Qatari interior ministry has confirmed the identities of three of the five lower-ranking Hamas members that the Palestinian militant group said were among those killed, together with a Qatari security officer. The assassination attempt on Hamas’s negotiating team was claimed to have failed by Hamas.
During an interview with CNN, Qatar’s prime minister did not confirm the whereabouts of Hamas’s lead negotiator Khalil al-Hayya.
“Until now. There is no official statement,” Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani stated on Wednesday evening.
He added that Israel’s move was a “state terror” and he hoped Qatar’s neighbors would come to a “collective response.”.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the attack as justified since it was aimed at what he referred to as the “terrorist masterminds” of the Hamas-led attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, in which approximately 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were hostages.
No fewer than 64,656 individuals have been murdered in Israeli attacks in Gaza in the subsequent war, the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry reported.
Qatar is a major US regional ally whose territory hosts a large American air base. It has been the home of the Hamas political bureau since 2012 and has also acted as a mediator in indirect talks between Israel and the group, together with the US and Egypt.
Tuesday afternoon’s aerial bombardment in northern Doha hit residential buildings sheltering several members of the Hamas political bureau while the latter debated the newest US initiative for a ceasefire and hostage exchange agreement, Qatari sources said.
Israeli officials first reported to Israeli media that they were upbeat about the outcome of what they called “Operation Summit of Fire.”.
But reports on Wednesday indicated their increasing gloom, with the implication that it might not have worked as well as they believed. Some officials were quoted as indicating the leaders of Hamas could have been in another part of the building.
Hamas announced on Tuesday that the “heinous crime” had slain five of its militants: the son of Khalil al-Hayya, Humam, director of Hayya’s office, Jihad Labad, and bodyguards Moamen Hassouna, Abdullah Abdul Wahid, and Ahmed al-Mamluk.
“We confirm the failure of the enemy to assassinate our brothers in the negotiating delegation,” it said, presenting no proof.
By Wednesday night, the Qatari interior ministry announced that authorities had identified the bodies of Humam al-Hayya, Labad, Hassouna, and Corporal Badr al-Humaidi, a Qatar Internal Security Force member.
The ministry announced attempts were being made by specialized teams to “identify two people reported missing”, stating that human remains had been found “in different locations”.
There was no word regarding Khalil al-Hayya, who still hasn’t made an appearance in public.
