International Desk (EFE).- Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson Majed al Ansari rejected Washington’s claim that Doha was warned ahead of time.
“The statements circulating that Qatar was informed of the attack in advance are false. The call from a US official came as the explosions were already happening in Doha,” al Ansari said on X.
He strongly condemned Israel’s strike on residential areas, calling it “a blatant violation of Qatar’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
Qatar hosts Hamas’ political bureau and has served as a key mediator, alongside Egypt and the US, in ceasefire negotiations.
The attack came just one day after Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said Israel had accepted Trump’s latest proposal for a truce in Gaza on condition that all hostages be released and Hamas disarm.
White House calls strike “unfortunate incident”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt read an official statement that described the airstrike as an “unfortunate incident” but said it pursued a “laudable goal” of weakening Hamas.
“Bombing unilaterally inside Qatar, a sovereign nation and a close United States ally working hard and bravely with us to mediate peace, does not advance Israel’s or America’s objectives,” Leavitt told reporters.
“Nonetheless, eliminating Hamas, which benefits from the misery of those living in Gaza, is a laudable objective,” she added.
Leavitt added that United States President Donald Trump considered Qatar “a powerful ally and friend” and “feels very badly about the location of this attack.”
She said Trump had ordered his Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, to notify Qatari officials of the “imminent strike” and later phoned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as well as Qatar’s emir, Tamim bin Hamad al Thani, to assure them “that something like this will not happen again on their territory.”
Hamas confirms five dead, including negotiator’s son
An Israeli airstrike on Hamas leaders in Doha killed five members of the Palestinian group and one Qatari police officer on Tuesday, sparking diplomatic friction after the White House said it had notified Qatar in advance, a claim the Gulf state flatly denied.
The strike, the first by Israel on Qatari soil, targeted a building where Hamas negotiators were meeting to discuss a United States-brokered ceasefire proposal for Gaza.
Hamas said in a statement that five of its members were killed, though none were part of its negotiating delegation.
The victims included Hamam Khalil al-Hayya, son of senior negotiator Khalil al-Hayya, and Yihad Labad, his office director.
Three others, Abdallah Abdul Wahid, Moamen Hasuna, and Ahmed al-Mamluk, were also named by the group.
Hamas stressed that “the leadership of the movement survived.”
Sources from the group told EFE that the delegation, led by Khalil al-Hayya, escaped the strike.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog later confirmed that al-Hayya had been the intended target. EFE
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