Israel launched a strike targeting Hamas’ leadership in Qatar on Tuesday, officials said, further widening its campaign against the militant group.
Qatar has served as a key negotiator in efforts to end the conflict in the Gaza Strip, and it was unclear if the attack would stall those efforts.
U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres condemned the attack, saying “all parties must work towards achieving a permanent ceasefire, not destroying it.”
It wasn’t immediately clear how the attack was carried out, though an Israeli military spokesman referred to Israel’s air force carrying out the strike. Qatar Airways continued landing in Doha amid the strike, even as at least one Qatari air force aircraft took off on patrol over the country.
Here’s the latest:
In a phone call with Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman described Israel’s attack on Doha as a “criminal act and a flagrant violation of international law.”
He offered Saudi Arabia’s “full solidarity” with Qatar.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry condemned the attack, describing it as “evidence of Israel’s expansionist policies and its adoption of terrorism of state strategy.”
The ministry’s statement expressed Turkey’s solidarity with Qatar and renewed a call on the international community to exert pressure to halt Israel’s actions in the Palestinian territories and the wider region.
Mohammed al-frah a member of the Houthis’ political office, posted his condemnation of the attack on X, saying Israel and the United States are fully responsible.
“This cowardly operation was nothing but a deliberate assassination attempt against the negotiating delegation, a despicable effort to eliminate any prospect for peace, and an execution of any diplomatic hope in the region,” he said.
Iraq’s foreign ministry said in a statement that this “cowardly act represents a flagrant violation” of Qatar’s sovereignty and poses a threat to its security and stability.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reiterates Iraq’s firm position in standing with the government and people of the sisterly State of Qatar, and fully supporting it in confronting any attacks that undermine its sovereignty or threaten its national security,” the statement read.
Danny Danon defended his country’s strike Tuesday on Hamas’ headquarters in Doha, saying “there is no hiding place for terrorists.”
“The precise strike in Doha targeted senior Hamas leaders who planned the October 7 massacre and celebrated while our citizens were abducted,” Danon posted on X. “I commend our security forces for this courageous and precise operation.”
“We are just learning about the Israeli attacks in Qatar, a country that has been playing a very positive role to achieve a ceasefire and the release of all hostages,” Guterres told reporters at a press conference at the United Nations headquarters in New York.
“I condemn this fragrant violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Qatar,” he said, adding “all parties must work towards achieving a permanent ceasefire, not destroying it.”
Spain’s Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said Tuesday that his government is prohibiting the entry of Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s national security minister, and Bezalel Smotrich, its finance minister.
In a televised address Monday, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called Israel’s attacks in Gaza an “extermination of a defenseless people.”
Israel banned the entrance of two of Spain’s ministers in response to that speech.
Sánchez also announced he was formalizing an arms embargo on Israel and prohibiting ships carrying fuel for Israel’s armed forces from using Spanish ports.
In a statement, Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Abou Gheit said the attack violated Qatar’s sovereignty.
He said Israel “does not care about the consequences of its shameful actions.”