Israeli military strikes Hamas leaders in Qatar

Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani has just finished holding a press conference.

Here are the key takeaways.

Gaza peace talks

Asked if the Gaza peace talks will continue, Sheikh Mohammed said that he didn't think "there's anything valid" in the current talks "after today's attack." But, he said, "Qatar has spared no efforts and will do everything it can to stop this war in Gaza."

Qatar, along with Egypt and the United States, has been a key mediator between Israel and Hamas during the war in Gaza.

Strong words for Netanyahu

Sheik Mohammed blamed Israel for sabotaging what he said were chances for peace and sharply criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

He said Netanyahu practices "state terrorism" and was "dragging the region to a place where it unfortunately cannot be repaired."

Netanyahu has called the attack "entirely justified" and was ordered after an attack in Jerusalem and the loss of four Israeli soldiers in Gaza.

US warning of attack

The Qatari prime minister also said US officials first warned his government of the Israeli attack 10 minutes after it began, describing the strike as "100% treacherous."

Qatar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said earlier on Tuesday that claims Qatar had been pre-informed of the attack were "baseless."

"The call from a US official came during the sound of explosions caused by the Israeli attack in Doha," ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari wrote in a statement on X.

In a post on Truth Social, US President Donald Trump said his administration tried to warn Doha but the warning was "unfortunately, too late to stop the attack."

Regional response

Sheik Mohammed suggested that countries across the Middle East must come together to rein in Israel.

"Today, we have reached a turning point for there to be a response from the entire region against such barbaric conduct," he said, according to Qatar-based broadcaster Al Jazeera.

US President Donald Trump has once again reiterated his administration's line that Israel was solely responsible for the attack on Hamas leadership in Qatar, saying that he had tried to give Doha a heads up but it was too late.

"This was a decision made by Prime Minister Netanyahu, it was not a decision made by me," Trump said on his Truth Social platform, repeating what the Israeli prime minister had said. 

Trump said his administration was notified of the attack by the US military.

"I immediately directed Special Envoy Steve Witkoff to inform the Qataris of the impending attack, which he did, however, unfortunately, too late to stop the attack," he said. "I view Qatar as a strong ally and friend of the US, and feel very badly about the location of the attack."

Nevertheless, the US president also reiterated that "eliminating Hamas, who have profited off the misery of those living in Gaza, is a worthy goal."

Trump said he has assured Qatar's emir and prime minister "that such a thing will not happen again on their soil."

"I have directed Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, to finalize the Defense Cooperation Agreement with Qatar," the US president added.

German chancellor Friedrich Merz held a phone call with Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, where he said the violation of Qatar's sovereignty and territorial integrity by the Israeli strike was "unacceptable," government spokesman Stefan Kornelius said.

Merz praised Qatar's mediation efforts in the conflict to secure a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages and warned about the possibility of war spreading in the region.

Earlier, Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul released an official statement by the German government in response to the strike.

"Israel's attack in Doha not only violates the territorial sovereignty of Qatar, but also endangers all our efforts for the release of the hostages," Wadephul said.

Wadephul went on to say he was "extremely concerned about the lives and safety of the hostages in the hands of Hamas, including German citizens."

Wadephul's statement called for Hamas to lay down its arms and "renounce terror against the State of Israel."

"The current escalation is also a result of Hamas' abhorrent terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, 2023," he added.

Germany has been a staunch ally of Israel, but it has recently questioned Israel's actions in Gaza, in particular regarding the humanitarian crisis civilians in the devastated strip are facing.

Elizabeth Tsurkov, an Israeli-Russian graduate student from Princeton University who was kidnapped in Iraq, has been released late on Tuesday following over 900 days in captivity.

"I am pleased to report that Elizabeth Tsurkov, a Princeton Student, whose sister is an American Citizen, was just released by Kata'ib Hezbollah (MILITANT Hezbollah), and is now safely in the American Embassy in Iraq after being tortured for many months," US President Donald Trump said on his Truth Social platform. "I will always fight for JUSTICE, and never give up."

Iraq's Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani also confirmed the news on X, saying Tsurkov's release "crowned the big efforts exerted by our security apparatuses over the course of long months." 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he ordered a strike on Hamas' leaders in the Qatari capital, Doha. DW's Middle East expert Shani Rozanes and Hans-Jakob Schindler, senior director of the Counter Extremism Project, discuss what the assault means for ceasefire negotiations, a potential hostage deal, and Israel's relationship with its staunchest ally, the United States.

US President Donald Trump does not support the Israeli attack on Hamas' leadership in Doha as it does not serve Israel's or America's interests, the White House has said.

"The president views Qatar as a strong ally and friend of the United States and feels very badly about the location of this attack," Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told a press conference.

"Unilaterally bombing inside Qatar, a sovereign nation and close ally of the US that is working very hard and is taking risks to broker peace, does not advance Israel or America's goals," Leavitt said as she read from a prepared statement.

"However, eliminating Hamas ... is a worthy goal," she added.

Leavitt explained that the US had been notified that "Israel was attacking Hamas," and that Trump had spoken to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu afterwards.

The US president told Netanyahu that he wants the war to "end now."

Leavitt also said Trump had spoken to the Qatari Emir to thank the Gulf state for their "support and friendship" and "assured them that such a thing will not happen again on their soil."

The United States has a significant number of troops based in Qatar at the Al Udeid Air Base.

Trump has fostered close ties with Qatar since taking office for his second term.

In May, he defended plans to receive a new luxury Boeing aircraft as a gift from Qatar's royal family to replace the presidential Air Force One aircraft.

Hamas has said that five of its members were killed in Israel's airstrike on the Qatari capital Doha, but its top leadership has survived.

Senior Hamas member Suhail al-Hindi told Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera on Tuesday that the militants' senior leaders had survived the strike.

The son of the Palestinian militant group's Gaza chief Khalil al-Hayya, who lived in exile in Qatar, was among those killed.

Al-Hayya, the highest ranking Hamas member outside of Gaza, survived the militant group said.

A Qatari security officer was also killed in the strike, Qatar's Interior Ministry said, adding that several others were injured.

But the group said that Israel had failed in its attempt to assassinate Hamas' ceasefire negotiators.

Since the start of the conflict in Gaza in October 2023, Israel has killed a number of senior Hamas figures, including Yahya al-Sinwar and Mohammed Deif, as well as the group's political chief Ismail Haniyeh in a missile strike in Tehran in 2024.

The United Kingdom's Prime Minister Keir Starmer has denounced Israel's airstrikes on Hamas leaders in the Qatari capital.

In a post on X, Starmer warned the attack was a violation of Qatari sovereignty that risked "further escalation" in the Middle East.

Since the Hamas terror attacks of October 7, 2023, Israel has attacked several countries and territories in the Middle East. These include the Palestinian territories of Gaza and the West Bank, as well as Qatar, Iran, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen.

"The priority must be an immediate ceasefire, the release of hostages and a huge surge in aid into Gaza," the British leader said, adding that "this is the only solution towards long-lasting peace."

Like France's Emmanuel Macron, Starmer has said the United Kingdom will recognize Palestinian statehood at the UN this month as part of efforts to ramp up pressure on Israel to relent in its campaign in Gaza.

France's President Emmanuel Macron has condemned Israel's airstrike on Doha, where Hamas leaders were reportedly meeting to discuss a ceasefire proposal.

In a post on social media platform X, Macron said the strikes are "unacceptable, regardless of motive."

"I express my solidarity with Qatar and its Emir, Sheikh Tamim Al Thani. Under no circumstances should the war spread throughout the region," the French president added.

Macron has been increasingly critical of Israel's conduct in Gaza and the West Bank.

He said in July that France will recognize Palestinian statehood at a UN General Assembly this month.

His vocal criticism has drawn sharp rebukes from Israel and the US.

Turkey's Foreign Ministry has said the Israeli strike on Doha was proof that Israel has adopted "expansionist politics" in the Middle East and "terrorism as a state policy."

In a statement, the ministry said "the targeting of the Hamas negotiating delegation while ceasefire talks continue shows that Israel does not aim to reach peace, but rather continue the war."

Along with the US and Egypt, Qatar has played a key role as a mediator in talks between Hamas and Israel.

On Monday, Qatar urged the Palestinian militants to "respond positively" to the latest US-brokered deal aimed at securing a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of Israeli hostages.

US President Donald Trump warned that it was the group's "last chance."

A senior Hamas official, quoted by the Associated Press, had called the proposal a "humiliating surrender document."

Egypt, one of the key mediators in ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas, has condemned Israel's strike on Hamas leaders in the Qatari capital.

In a statement, the Egyptian presidency warned the airstrike sets "a dangerous precedent" that threatens regional stability and security.

"Egypt strongly condemns and denounces the aggression by the Israeli occupation forces today against Qatar," Abdel Fattah el-Sisi's office said. 

"This attack is a flagrant violation of international law," the statement added.

The Egyptian presidency called the attack an "unacceptable development" that "constitutes a direct assault on the sovereignty of the sisterly state of Qatar, which plays a pivotal role in mediation efforts to achieve a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip."

Israel has confirmed it carried out airstrikes on Hamas' leaders in Qatar's capital, Doha.

Several explosions were reported in the city. It is still unclear who the strikes were targeting and whether there are any fatalities.

DW's Tania Krämer has the latest.

A group representing the relatives of hostages being held in Gaza have described their "deep concern and heavy anxiety" after an Israeli missile attack targeted Hamas leaders in Doha. 

Forty-eight hostages are believed to be held by the Palestinian militant group in Gaza, with only 20 believed to be alive.

"A grave fear now hangs over the price that the hostages may pay," according to a press release by the Hostages Families Forum Headquarters.

"We know from the survivors who have returned that the revenge directed at the hostages is brutal," the group said.

The return of the hostages has been a major sticking point in ceasefire talks with Hamas.

The issue has also triggered massive protests in Israel against Benjamin Netanyahu's government and the expanded military campaign in Gaza.

"The chance of bringing them back now faces greater uncertainty than ever before, with one thing of absolute certainty — their time is running out," the relatives of the hostages said in the statement, which warned that the "price for the 48 hostages could be unbearable."

"The living hostages could be murdered at any moment and the deceased could disappear forever. The time has come to end the war."

Benjamin Netanyahu has said the missile strike on Doha targeting leaders of Hamas was in response to a shooting in Jerusalem.

Monday's shooting at a bus stop in East Jerusalem killed at least six people.

"The Prime Minister and the Minister of Defense believed that the action was completely justified in light of the fact that this Hamas leadership was the one who initiated and organized the October 7 massacre, and has not stopped launching murderous actions against the State of Israel and its citizens since then, including taking responsibility for the murder of our citizens in yesterday's attack in Jerusalem," a joint statement by Netanyahu and defense minister Israel Katz said.

It added that the missile strike was carried out "in light of an operational opportunity" and "in consultation with all heads of the security establishment."