Israel Doubts Success Of Attack On Hamas Leadership On Qatar

Click to see full-size image. (X)

Israeli officials are increasingly doubting that the attack on the leadership of the Palestinian Hamas Movement in the Qatari capital, Doha, was successful, Hebrew media reported on September 9.

The attack, which took place a day earlier, saw multiple strikes hitting a building in the Leqtaifiya district of Doha, where Hamas top leaders were present, including the head of the group in Gaza, Khalil al-Hayya.

Also believed to have been present at the building during the attack, dubbed “Operation Summit of Fire,” were senior Hamas figures: Zaher Jabarin, who leads Hamas in the West Bank, Muhammad Darwish, head of Hamas’s Shura Council, and Khaled Mashaal, head of Hamas abroad.

While Israel confirmed the attack, and said that it was assessing the outcome, Hamas insisted none of its leadership cadre had been killed.

In a statement, the group said that while its top leaders survived the strike, five lower-level members were killed, including the son of al-Hayya as well as three bodyguards and the head of al-Hayya’s office. The death of a Qatari security officer was announced separately by Doha.

Israel’s Kan public broadcaster reported Israel had informed the United States that the chances that the strike had been successful had decreased significantly. The broadcaster quoted an official as saying that the final results needed to be seen but that it was possible the attack had not achieved “the desired result.”

“Right now there’s no indication that the terrorists were killed,” another source told the Israeli Channel 12 news. “We continue to hope they were assassinated, but optimism is fading.”

Meanwhile, the Israeli news website Ynet, citing two sources from the defense and intelligence community, reported that the country was “pessimistic regarding the lethality of the strike on most of the targets, and perhaps all of them.” A battle damage assessment was ongoing, the report added.

The Saudi newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat reported later that two senior Hamas officials, members of the group’s political bureau, were wounded in the attack. The report did not specify their names. However, it says that one of them was seriously injured and that both are hospitalized in a private hospital under strict security.

Speaking in an English-language video on September 10, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on Qatar to expel the leaders of Hamas.

“You either expel them or you bring them to justice. Because if you don’t, we will,” he said.

The primer went on to accuse Qatar of harboring “terrorists,” financing Hamas and even giving the group’s leaders mansions in Doha.

In the past, Hamas was able to hide the death of some of its top leaders for a relatively long period. However, not when they were assassinated outside of the Gaza Strip. With regard to the Israeli attack in Doha, all available information indicates that it failed, at least partly.

The attack is of course only a part of a wider Israeli plan to escalate the war on Hamas in order to deal a final blow to the group. The main element of the plan is a large-scale offensive in Gaza City. Hamas has shown openness to engage in talks on a permanent ceasefire in the Strip, even including handing over control of the Palestinian enclave. Israel, however, appears to be looking for far more.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence

NOW hosted at southfront.press

Previously, SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence was at southfront.org.

The .org domain name had been blocked by the US (NATO) (https://southfront.press/southfront-org-blocked-by-u-s-controlled-global-internet-supervisor/) globally, outlawed and without any explanation

Back before that, from 2013 to 2015, SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence was at southfront.com

SOUTHFRONT.PRESS

MORE ON THIS TOPIC: