The IDF attacked the group’s headquarters in Doha, with around ten explosions reported
Israel has conducted a “precise strike” against the “senior leadership of Hamas,” the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced on Tuesday, shortly after multiple blasts rocked the headquarters of the Palestinian militant group in Doha, Qatar.
The Israeli military said it carried out the operation in coordination with the Shin Bet security agency (ISA). The IDF did not name the exact location targeted in the strike.
“The IDF and ISA conducted a precise strike targeting the senior leadership of the Hamas terrorist organization,” the IDF said in a statement. “Prior to the strike, measures were taken in order to mitigate harm to civilians, including the use of precise munitions and additional intelligence.”
The announcement came after at least ten blasts reportedly rocked the Hamas headquarters in Doha. Footage circulating online shows the building was badly damaged. According to multiple media reports citing Hamas sources, the strike targeted the group’s negotiating team, which has been discussing the latest US proposal on the cessation of the hostilities with Israel.
Qatar has condemned the “cowardly Israeli attack,” describing the location affected by the strike as “residential buildings housing several members of the political bureau of the Hamas movement.”
It is not immediately clear whether the attack reached its intended target, conflicting media reports citing sources within the group indicate. While some suggest that several high-profile Hamas figures were killed in the attack, others claim that the group’s leadership escaped the strike unharmed.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office insisted that the attack on Hamas in Qatar was a unilateral action and no other countries were involved in the operation.
”Today’s action against the top terrorist chieftains of Hamas was a wholly independent Israeli operation. Israel initiated it, Israel conducted it, and Israel takes full responsibility,” it said in a statement.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the Israeli attack as a “flagrant violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Qatar.”
“All parties must work towards achieving a permanent ceasefire, not destroying it,” he told reporters.
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