Who Knew What, When and Who is Being Shielded?

Israeli officials said the Doha strike was carried out by 15 Israeli fighter jets, firing 10 precision munitions against a single target, the BBC reported, citing Israeli media. We don’t know at the moment what weapons were used.

Qatar and its U.S. guests have very advanced air defense systems and sensors that would provide prior alert to an impending attack, in most circumstances. With standoff munitions launched at distance the most likely means of attack, why there was no attempt to intercept these weapons if they were of unknown origin isn’t clear. The use of F-35s is possible here, as well, which may have been able to make closer proximity standoff attacks, but Israel has F-15 and F-16-launched weapons capable of reaching hundreds of miles and strike with pinpoint accuracy.

The U.S. military spotted Israeli jets flying east toward the Persian Gulf but had little time to react, according to Axios.

“The U.S. sought clarification, but by the time Israel provided it, missiles were already in the air,” the publication reported, citing three U.S. officials.

At the same time, U.S. President Donald Trump “was informed of the impending strike by his military and alerted Qatar’s leadership,” White House spokesperson Karonline Leavitt told reporters on Tuesday.

So exactly what the U.S. knew about the impending strike and when, and when Qatar was informed, remains disputed at this time.

Qatari officials complained that they only found out about the attack after it took place. Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari said notification from the U.S. only came after explosions were heard in Doha. He did not address why his nation’s air defense system did not pick up the Israeli jets.

The W*r Zone

The satellite image taken on Sept. 10 after the attack shows damage to five buildings. (PHOTO PLANET LABS INC.

"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."

Statement from Prime Minister Netanyahu's office

 

"The prime minister and defence minister believe the operation was entirely justified given that this Hamas leadership initiated and organized the October 7 massacre and has continued to launch murderous actions against the State of Israel and its citizens since then, including claiming responsibility for the killing of our citizens in yesterday's attack in Jerusalem."

Defence Minister Israel Katz 

People take part in a rally demanding the immediate release of the hostages kidnapped during the deadly October 7, 2023 attack on Israel by Hamas, and the end of war in Gaza, in Tel Aviv in August. (Nir Elias/Elias)

 

True to its tradition and its reputation as the most humane military in history, the Israel Defense Forces intimately knows its targets and how to secure strikes with absolute minimum collateral damage in targeted strikes that occur in juxtaposition to civilian enclaves with the potential to produce more casualties than it sets out to accomplish, and this was true in the Doha strikes, when the Israel Air Force made use of precision munitions. They would have been assured of eliminating their targets had more forceful weaponry been utilized, but the decision was to attempt what they could and spare lives, reflecting the military's mission.

 

A mission which while daring in its impudent certainty might not have been carried to fruition lacking complicity from the most interested sources; Israel's powerful patron-nation and the nation whose territory would be invaded in the event of these strikes. Neither of which would appreciate being directly implicated, so although the U.S. knew of the plans in advance, those plans fell on deaf ears, yet not sufficiently deaf as to not forewarn the country where the strikes would take place, and nor did that country seek to evade the occurrence of the mission; it simply did not 'see' what it would not envision, and therefore could not react to.

 

Tuesday's airstrikes by the Israeli military carried out against senior Hamas leadership in Doha, Qatar may not have entirely realized the success visualized in planning the episode, regardless of which it will be crystal clear now to those targets which may have survived, that their survival at a future date is contestable; they are marked and their lives will be extinguished. These targeted Hamas elites were responsible for the October 7, 2023 massacre and bear further responsibility for the ongoing war facing Israel from whatever is left of Hamas. 

 

U.S. President Donald Trump walks with Qatar's Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, on a red carpet towards Air Force One, as he departs Qatar in May. (Brian Snyder/Reuters)

 

The Israeli prime minister and minister of defense were at pains to own the Doha attacks, in complete exoneration of any hint of planning partnership from any outside source. Why bother? Willingness to ensure that no other political-national entity would be blemished in aiding the Jewish state in its deadly onslaught against those whose intention is to destroy its presence in the Middle East. PM Benjamin Netanyahu carefully explained his instructions to all security agencies to prepare for a focus on assassination of Hamas elite leadership abroad.

 

Spurred anew by the latest Hamas atrocity in Jerusalem when two Hamas operatives shot up a bus stop, murdering six civilians and wounding many others, some grievously, before they were themselves killed by a nearby soldier and two armed Israeli civilians firing back at them. The bombing of an army tank that killed four IDF soldiers in northern Gaza cemented that determination to excise the Hamas command living in Qatar distant from the fray, but commanding its intransigent attacks on Israel while simultaneously engaging in 'peace' talks captained by Qatari, Egyptian and American mediators.

 

The tantalizing prospect of a truce and the surrender of the remaining Israeli hostages, alive and dead, by Hamas tied Israeli negotiators to the ongoing, frustrating and unsuccessful talks in Doha where each offer was 'studied' at length by the Hamas negotiators and ultimately turned down, as unreflective of Hamas demands. One solution after another found wanting, and back to the bargaining table, an exercise in stalling for time used by the terror group for recruitment, rearming, rescheduling.

 

A damaged building in Doha following an Israeli attack on Hamas leaders Tuesday. Ibraheem Abu Mustafa / Reuters

 

The strikes carried out by the Israeli Air Force targeted the residences of several Hamas 'political' elites among its senior leadership. Al-Arabiya reported that Hamas negotiator Khalil al-Hayya was killed in the strike. Khaled Mashaal, Zaher Jabarin, Mohammad Ismail Darwish, Mousa Abu Marzouk, Hussam Badran and Tahar Anunu made up the roster of the targeted elite of Hamas in Israel's crosshairs. It will be some time before their fate will be made known, since none have since appeared in public. 

 

According to a still-defiant Hamas, its top leaders survived while five lower-level members were killed, among them the son of Khalil al-Hayya and the head of al-Hayya's office. Hamas gave no proof of the survival of al-Hayya and the other senior figures. The strike took place in Doha's Diplomatic Quarter at a series of buildings housing the Hamas 'political' bureau. A meeting by Hamas officials had been scheduled. Their negotiating team was meeting to discuss the latest U.S. ceasefire proposal and return of hostages.

 

This frame grab taken from AFP TV footage shows a man looking at smoke billowing after explosions in Doha Tuesday that Israeli officials said were an attack on Hamas leadership based in the Qatari capital.. (Jacqueline Penney/AFPTV/AFP/Getty Images)

 

"[Israel's] long arm will act against its enemies anywhere."

"There is no place where they can hide. Everyone who took part in the 7 October massacre will be held fully accountable. "

"Anyone who carries out terror against Israel will be harmed."

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz