![\"Reuters](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/ea7f\/live\/241b6420-8d8f-11f0-9cf6-cbf3e73ce2b9.jpg.webp\")
Reuters<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\nIsrael carried out a strike on senior Hamas leaders in Qatar’s capital, Doha, on Tuesday afternoon. <\/p>\n
Qatar quickly accused Israel of “reckless” behaviour and breaking international law after the attack on a residential premises in the city. <\/p>\n
The Israel Defense Forces claimed to have targeted those “directly responsible for the brutal October 7 massacre”. <\/p>\n
Here is what we know so far.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
How and where was attack carried out? <\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
Explosions were heard and smoke was seen rising above the Qatari capital Doha early on Tuesday afternoon. <\/p>\n Verified footage showed smoke rising from a heavily damaged section of a complex next to Woqod petrol station on Wadi Rawdan Street, close to the West Bay Lagoon district north of central Doha.<\/p>\n According to the Israeli military, it conducted a “precise strike” targeted at Hamas senior leaders in Qatar using “precise munitions”. <\/p>\n Israeli media says the operation involved 15 Israeli fighter jets, firing 10 munitions against a single target.<\/p>\n Qatar has hosted Hamas’s political bureau since 2012 and played a key role in facilitating indirect negotiations between the group and Israel since the 7 October attacks. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n According to a Hamas official, members of the Hamas negotiating delegation were targeted during a meeting. <\/p>\n The IDF has said the strike was carried out on the group’s “senior leadership”, although it is not yet clear exactly which individuals were targeted. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n The office for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu put out a statement shortly after the strike, claiming the attack was “a wholly independent Israeli operation”.<\/p>\n “Israel initiated it, Israel conducted it, and Israel takes full responsibility,” it said in a statement.<\/p>\n The White House also quickly confirmed it was informed of the operation, almost certainly because of the proximity of the huge US airbase at al-Udeid, just outside Doha.<\/p>\n This means that Donald Trump had a chance to say no to Israel but chose to give a green light instead.<\/p>\n Given this was an attack on sovereign Qatari territory, questions remain over how this will affect the massive US airbase at al-Udeid and how it will affect US relations with all its Gulf Arab allies. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n Qatar has acted as a mediator between Israel and Hamas and has hosted negotiations between them since October 2023.<\/p>\n A couple of days ago, Hamas said it welcomed “some ideas” from the US about how to reach a Gaza ceasefire agreement that it received through mediators. It said it was in discussion about how to turn them “into a comprehensive agreement that meets the needs of our people”.<\/p>\n It’s thought likely the targeted Hamas leaders were in the middle of discussing their formal response to the US ideas.<\/p>\n A Palestinian official earlier told the BBC the US plan would see the 48 remaining hostages in Gaza freed in the first 48 hours of a 60-day truce in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails and good-faith negotiations on a permanent ceasefire.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![](\"https:\/\/static.files.bbci.co.uk\/bbcdotcom\/web\/20250828-055926-c20c0c03f5-2.28.1-2\/grey-placeholder.png\")
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<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\nWho was hit in the attack? <\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
What did the US know and did Trump give a ‘green light’? <\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
What were Hamas leaders doing in Qatar?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
How has Qatar reacted?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n