Israel vows to target enemies ‘everywhere’ after attack on Hamas in Qatar
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Israel said it would “act against its enemies everywhere” following its attack against Hamas’s political leadership in Qatar, doubling down despite international condemnation and rare censure from President Donald Trump.
The president told reporters in Washington that he was “very unhappy about every aspect” of Tuesday’s strikes on Qatar, a crucial US regional ally, which killed six people and drastically escalated Israel’s war against the Palestinian militant group.
But Israel’s defence minister Israel Katz on Wednesday reiterated that the country would continue to attack its foes, including overseas. “There is no place for them to hide.”
The Israeli air force later on Wednesday carried out a wave of strikes in Yemen against Houthi rebel targets, hitting what it described as military camps, a military media headquarters and fuel depots in the capital, Sana’a.
It came after a drone fired by the Iranian-backed rebels, who have launched repeated missiles and other projectiles at Israel, hit the small Ramon airport in the south of the country last weekend.
The Israeli military also used leaflets, text messages and phone calls to push ahead with its forced evacuation of Gaza City, a day after it told the city’s population of about 1mn people to leave ahead of a planned invasion.
“Israel’s security policy is clear — Israel’s long arm will act against its enemies everywhere,” Katz said.
An Israeli official said the individuals targeted in Tuesday’s strike in Doha, which came as the Qatari government was pushing Hamas leaders to agree Gaza ceasefire proposals, included Khalil al-Hayya, the group’s chief negotiator, and Zaher Jabarin, a senior member of its political bureau.
Katz said that if the militant group did not agree to Israel’s terms for ending the war — which includes surrendering and releasing all of the remaining hostages it holds in the strip — “they will be destroyed and Gaza will be destroyed”.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu justified the attack in Doha in part by saying it was in response to a deadly shooting by two Palestinian militants in Jerusalem on Monday, which killed six people.
Comparing Israel’s attack in Doha to the US decision to kill Osama bin Laden in a secret operation in Pakistan, Netanyahu said Israel would continue its policy of targeted assassinations abroad.
“I say to Qatar and all nations who harbour terrorists, you either expel them or you bring them to justice,” he said. “Because if you don’t, we will.”
The president of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, visited Doha on Wednesday with a delegation of officials to show solidarity with Qatar, according to UAE state news agency WAM.
Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman separately condemned what he called Israel’s “brutal aggression” against Qatar and its attacks around the region.
The crown prince said in a televised address that his country “will stand with the sisterly State of Qatar” and urged the international community to stop Israel from destabilising the region.
The Trump administration said it had informed Qatar of the impending attack after learning about it from the US military but declined to say if it had been forewarned by Israel.
Qatar, one of the world’s richest states and largest producers of liquefied natural gas, hosts America’s biggest military base in the region.
The White House, which has been working on a Gaza ceasefire together with Qatar, said on Tuesday that the attack “does not advance Israel or America’s goal”.
But it added: “Eliminating Hamas, who have profited off the misery of those living in Gaza, is a worthy goal.”
Qatar, which has hosted Hamas’s political leadership for more than a decade, condemned the “cowardly attack” in the strongest terms.
It said the strikes, which targeted residential buildings housing members of Hamas’s political bureau, killed an officer from its internal security forces and wounded several others.
A senior Hamas figure told the Al Jazeera Qatari media network that Hayya and Jabarin survived the attack. The militant group said five of its members had been killed.
Hamas’s office and its officials’ homes are in the capital’s West Bay area, a prime business and residential neighbourhood that is home to many expatriates.
Israel has been launching attacks on multiple fronts in recent months. As well as June’s war against Iran, it has carried out strikes against militants in Lebanon and Yemen and bombing raids in Syria.
The strikes came just two days after Trump issued what he said was a “last warning” to Hamas to accept Washington’s ceasefire proposal.
Recent US proposals stipulate that any deal would start with Hamas releasing all living and dead hostages on the first day of a truce.
Additional reporting by Abigail Hauslohner and Steff Chávez in Washington
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