Israel carried out an airstrike on the Qatari capital of Doha Tuesday in an effort to kill the Hamas negotiators with whom it is nominally carrying out “ceasefire” talks. While the Hamas negotiators survived, the attack killed six people, including the son of Khalil al-Hayya, Hamas’s chief negotiator, as well as civilian bystanders.
All factions of the Israeli political establishment endorsed the attack. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu boasted about it, saying, “At the beginning of the war, I promised that Israel would reach those who perpetrated that horror. Today that was done.”
The attack on Qatar is the second major act of international perfidy carried out by Israel in recent months. In June, Israel and the United States used negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program as cover to assassinate large portions of Iran’s military and civilian leadership.
The attempt to murder Hamas negotiators exposes, once again, the complete fraud of US and Israeli claims that they are seeking a negotiated settlement of the genocide they refer to as a “war.” In reality, the negotiations are a fiction, invoked by the US media to cover up the fact that the “war” being waged by the US and Israel is merely a pretext to conquer the entirety of Gaza and kill or expel the Palestinian population.
On Sunday, Trump said he was giving Hamas a “final warning” to accept the US-Israeli terms of surrender. “I have warned Hamas about the consequences of not accepting. This is my last warning, there will not be another one!” Trump said. The Hamas negotiators were holding a meeting to discuss the terms laid down by Trump.
The strikes targeted the Qatari capital of Doha and occurred near schools and embassies. Qatar is a key regional ally of the United States, and thousands of American soldiers are stationed at the country’s Al Udeid Air Base.
Doha has served as the location of “ceasefire” negotiations throughout the course of the genocide.
The Times of Israel, citing Israeli officials who spoke to Israeli broadcaster Channel 12, reported that “US President Donald Trump gave the green light for the Israeli strike in Qatar.”
Trump confirmed receiving advanced warning of the attack and said that the US had informed the Qatari government that “Israel was attacking Hamas” in the capital. Trump claimed, “This was a decision made by Prime Minister Netanyahu,” adding, “It was not a decision made by me.”
While Trump said the strike “does not advance Israel or America’s goals,” he stopped short of condemning it outright, declaring, “eliminating Hamas, who have profited off the misery of those living in Gaza, is a worthy goal.”
A week ago, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, the Israeli military’s chief of staff, said that Israel would seek to murder Hamas members throughout the Middle East. “We are operating across the entire Middle East,” he told reserve soldiers. “Hamas will have no place to hide from us. Wherever we locate them, whether they are senior or junior figures—we strike them all, all the time.”
In May, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz threatened Hamas’s chief negotiator, Khalil al-Hayya.
In a statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attempted to distance the United States from the attack on Qatar, saying, “Israel initiated it, Israel conducted it, and Israel takes full responsibility.”
In a statement, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the strike as a “flagrant violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Qatar.”
“What happened today is state terrorism and an attempt to destabilize regional security and stability, and Netanyahu is leading the region to an irreversible level,” said Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in a televised address. He added, “These missiles were used to attack the negotiating delegation of the other party. By what moral standards is this acceptable?”
In a statement, Turkey said the attack on Qatar marked the “embrace of terrorism as a state policy,” amid media speculation that Israel could carry out attacks in other countries, including Turkey.
Just hours before the strike on Qatar, the Israel Defense Forces ordered the evacuation of the entirety of Gaza City as it accelerates its campaign to fully occupy the city. Approximately one million people remain in Gaza City, and Israel hopes to drive them to the south, where they will be interned in concentration camps near Rafah in preparation for their forcible expulsion from Palestine.
“I say to the residents of Gaza, take this opportunity and listen to me carefully: you have been warned—get out of there!” Netanyahu said Tuesday.
Last month, the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) hunger monitor officially pronounced a famine in Gaza. To date, hundreds of people have already died of starvation and malnutrition, and the number is only expected to climb higher.
Meanwhile, representatives of the Global Sumud Flotilla, which is seeking to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza and deliver food, said its ships were struck by two separate drone attacks over the past 24 hours, although no injuries were reported. Among the participants in the flotilla is climate activist Greta Thunberg.