WANA (Sep 09) – The Israeli military and intelligence services announced that in an operation codenamed “Fiery Summit”, the residence of Hamas leaders in Doha was targeted. According to Israeli officials, the strike was precise, with prior measures taken to avoid civilian casualties. The army claimed that those present at the meeting were among the planners of the October 7 attacks and key commanders of the ongoing war against Israel.

 

Local media reported that senior Hamas figures Khaled Meshaal, Khalil al-Hayya, Mousa Abu Marzouk, Taher al-Nounou, Imtihan Zaher, Mohammed Darwish, and Hisham Badran were among those targeted in the attack.

A senior Hamas source told Al Jazeera that the meeting under attack was reviewing Donald Trump’s proposed ceasefire plan. Media outlets close to Hamas further alleged that the United States had drawn the delegation to the meeting site for talks, after which Israel launched the strike.

 

Qatar has now become the sixth country directly targeted by Israel in the past six months, after Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, and Iran.

An image of the blast site in Qatar. Social media / WANA News Agency

An image of the blast site in Qatar. Social media / WANA News Agency

The Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that “Doha is in urgent contact with the UN Security Council and the guarantor states of the ceasefire talks to assess the dimensions of this attack.” The source emphasized that Qatar would continue its mediating role in the Israeli–Palestinian file, but warned that “any targeting of Qatari territory threatens not only this role but also the security of the entire region.”

 

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei condemned the strike as “extremely dangerous and a blatant violation of international law,” adding: “This act constitutes an infringement of Qatar’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and the targeting of Palestinian negotiators is a clear breach of the principles and purposes of the UN Charter.”

He stressed that the continued indifference of the international community toward Israeli actions poses a serious threat to regional security.

 

Israeli officials, meanwhile, defended the operation. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich declared: “Terrorists will not be safe anywhere. The right decision was made, and the army and Shin Bet carried it out.”