Israeli strike targets Hamas leaders in US-allied Qatar

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Israel launched a strike targeting Hamas’ leadership in Qatar on Tuesday as they considered a U.S. proposal for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. The strike on the territory of a U.S. ally marked a stunning escalation and risked upending talks aimed at winding down the war and freeing hostages.

Qatar, an energy-rich U.S. ally hosting thousands of American troops, has served as a key mediator between Israel and Hamas for several years, even before the war. It condemned what it referred to as a “flagrant violation of all international laws and norms” as smoke rose over its capital, Doha.

It was not immediately clear if anyone was hurt in the strike. Hamas has survived numerous assassinations of top leaders and is still intact in Gaza, despite having suffered major blows since the outbreak of the war triggered by its Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel.

The future of the long-stalled ceasefire talks was more uncertain, as Israel gears up for a major offensive aimed at taking over Gaza City. That escalation has been met with heavy international condemnation and opposition within Israel from those who fear it will doom the remaining hostages.

U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres condemned the attack, saying “all parties must work towards achieving a permanent ceasefire, not destroying it.”

Israel had long threatened Hamas in Qatar

Israel has long threatened to strike Hamas leaders wherever they are. While it has often welcomed Qatar’s role as a mediator, alongside Egypt, it has also accused the Gulf nation of not putting enough pressure on the group.

In contrast to previous Israeli operations against senior militants abroad, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was quick to publicly claim the strike, saying: “Israel initiated it, Israel conducted it and Israel takes full responsibility.”

He said the decision was taken Monday after a shooting attack in Jerusalem that killed six people and an attack on Israeli forces in Gaza that killed four soldiers.

The military said it used “precise munitions and additional intelligence” in the strike, without elaborating. An Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss details beyond the statement, confirmed the strike targeted Hamas.

The Israeli official and another person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to comment publicly said Israel alerted the U.S. ahead of time. Pentagon officials referred questions to the White House, where officials did not immediately respond.

Qatar condemned what it referred to as a “cowardly Israeli attack” on Hamas’ political headquarters in Doha. Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari called it a “flagrant violation of all international laws and norms” and said Qatar “will not tolerate this reckless Israeli behavior.”

The U.S. Embassy in Qatar said that it had instituted a shelter-in-place order for its facilities.

Ceasefire negotiations in question

Earlier this week, U.S. President Donald Trump said he was giving his “last warning” to Hamas regarding a possible ceasefire, as the U.S. advanced a new proposal that Arab officials said included the immediate release of all the hostages.

A senior Hamas official called it a “humiliating surrender document,” but the militant group said it would discuss the proposal and respond within days.

An Egyptian official said the strike came when a meeting by Hamas officials over the talks had been scheduled for the site. The official spoke on condition of anonymity, because he wasn’t authorized to talk to reporters.

The proposal, presented by Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, calls for a negotiated end of the war and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza once the hostages are released and a ceasefire is established. That’s according to Egyptian and Hamas officials familiar with the talks, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the closed-door discussions.

Hamas has said it will only release the remaining 48 hostages, around 20 of them believed to be alive, in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, a lasting ceasefire and a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. Netanyahu has rejected those terms, saying the war will continue until all the hostages are returned and Hamas has been disarmed, with Israel maintaining open-ended security control over Gaza.

Mediators had previously focused on brokering a temporary ceasefire and the release of some hostages, with the two sides then holding talks on a more permanent truce. Witkoff walked away from those talks in July, after which Hamas accepted a proposal that the mediators said was almost identical to an earlier one that Israel had approved.

International Outrage

The war in Gaza has already left Israel increasingly isolated internationally, with even many of its Western allies calling for it to end the war and do more to address the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, parts of which are experiencing famine.

Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the United Arab Emirates’ foreign minister, expressed “full solidarity with our dear Qatar” shortly after the attack.

The United Arab Emirates recently warned Israel that any move to annex the occupied West Bank would threatened the Abraham Accords, a landmark agreement brokered by Trump during his first term in which the two nations normalized relations.

Trump hopes to expand those accords to include regional heavyweight Saudi Arabia, but those prospects have dimmed as the war has ground on.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman described the strike as a “criminal act and a flagrant violation of international law” in a phone call with Qatar’s ruler.

Federman reported from Jerusalem. Associated Press writers Samy Magdy in Cairo, and Aamer Madhani in Washington, contributed.

阿联酋迪拜——周二，以色列对卡塔尔境内的哈马斯领导层发动空袭，当时卡塔尔正在考虑美国提出的加沙地带停火方案。此次袭击发生在美国盟友的领土上，标志着局势急剧升级，并有可能破坏旨在结束战争和解救人质的谈判。

卡塔尔是美国的盟友，也是能源资源丰富的国家，驻扎着数千名美军。多年来，卡塔尔一直是以色列和哈马斯之间的重要调解人，甚至在战争爆发前就已开始斡旋。当首都多哈上空升起浓烟时，卡塔尔谴责了这场被其称为“公然违反所有国际法和准则”的事件。

目前尚不清楚此次袭击是否有人受伤。哈马斯曾多次遭遇高层领导人遇刺，但都幸存了下来，尽管自2023年10月7日袭击以色列引发战争以来，该组织遭受了重大打击，但在加沙地带仍然保持完整。

长期停滞的停火谈判前景更加不明朗，因为以色列正积极筹备旨在占领加沙城的大规模攻势。这一升级行动遭到国际社会的强烈谴责，以色列国内也有人反对，他们担心这将危及剩余人质的生命。

联合国秘书长安东尼奥·古特雷斯谴责了这次袭击，并表示“各方必须努力实现永久停火，而不是破坏停火”。

以色列长期以来一直威胁卡塔尔的哈马斯。

以色列长期以来一直威胁要打击哈马斯领导人，无论他们身在何处。尽管以色列经常欢迎卡塔尔与埃及一道发挥调解作用，但它也指责这个海湾国家对哈马斯施加的压力不够。

与以色列以往针对境外高级武装分子的行动不同，以色列总理本雅明·内塔尼亚胡迅速公开宣称对此次袭击负责，他说：“以色列发起了这次袭击，以色列实施了这次袭击，以色列对此负全部责任。”

他说，周一耶路撒冷发生枪击事件，造成 6 人死亡；加沙地带发生针对以色列军队的袭击事件，造成 4 名士兵死亡，之后做出了这一决定。

军方称此次袭击使用了“精确制导武器和额外情报”，但未作详细说明。一位不愿透露姓名的以色列官员证实，此次袭击的目标是哈马斯。

一位以色列官员和另一位知情人士（该人士未获授权公开置评）表示，以色列事先已通知美国。五角大楼官员将相关问题转给了白宫，白宫官员尚未对此作出回应。

卡塔尔谴责以色列对哈马斯位于多哈的政治总部发动的“懦弱袭击”。外交部发言人马吉德·安萨里称此次袭击“公然违反所有国际法和国际准则”，并表示卡塔尔“绝不容忍以色列这种鲁莽的行为”。

美国驻卡塔尔大使馆表示，已对其所有设施实施就地避险令。

停火谈判存疑

本周早些时候，美国总统唐纳德·特朗普表示，他正在就可能的停火向哈马斯发出“最后警告”，与此同时，美国提出了一项新的提议，阿拉伯官员称该提议包括立即释放所有人质。

一名哈马斯高级官员称其为“一份屈辱的投降文件”，但该武装组织表示将讨论该提议，并在几天内作出回应。

一位埃及官员表示，此次袭击发生时，哈马斯官员原计划在该地点举行会谈。这位官员要求匿名，因为他没有被授权接受记者采访。

据熟悉会谈情况的埃及和哈马斯官员透露，特朗普的中东特使史蒂夫·威特科夫提出的方案呼吁通过谈判结束战争，并在人质获释和停火协议生效后，以色列军队撤出加沙。这些官员因需讨论闭门会谈内容而要求匿名。

哈马斯表示，只有以释放巴勒斯坦囚犯、永久停火以及以色列从加沙完全撤军为条件，才会释放剩余的48名人质（据信其中约20人还活着）。内塔尼亚胡拒绝了这些条件，称战争将继续，直到所有人质获释且哈马斯解除武装，以色列将继续对加沙保持无限期的安全控制。

此前，调解人致力于促成临时停火和部分人质获释，之后双方就更持久的停火协议举行了会谈。7月，维特科夫退出了这些会谈，之后哈马斯接受了一项调解人称几乎与以色列此前批准的方案完全相同的提议。

国际舆论哗然

加沙战争已经使以色列在国际上日益孤立，甚至许多西方盟友也呼吁以色列结束战争，并采取更多措施解决加沙的人道主义灾难，加沙部分地区正在经历饥荒。

袭击发生后不久，阿联酋外交大臣阿卜杜拉·本·扎耶德·阿勒纳哈扬表示“与我们亲爱的卡塔尔完全团结一致”。

阿拉伯联合酋长国最近警告以色列，任何吞并被占领的西岸地区的举动都将威胁到《亚伯拉罕协议》。该协议是特朗普在其第一任期内促成的一项具有里程碑意义的协议，该协议使两国关系正常化。

特朗普希望将这些协议扩大到包括地区强国沙特阿拉伯，但随着战争的持续，这些前景变得黯淡。

沙特王储穆罕默德·本·萨勒曼在与卡塔尔统治者的通话中，将此次袭击描述为“犯罪行为和公然违反国际法的行为”。

费德曼从耶路撒冷报道。美联社记者萨米·马格迪（开罗）和阿默·马德哈尼（华盛顿）亦有贡献。