Israel has carried out airstrikes in Qatar targeting senior Hamas leaders, describing the action as a “precise operation” against the group’s political bureau.

Explosions were heard in Doha, the Qatari capital, on Tuesday, with verified footage showing smoke billowing from a damaged complex near the Woqod petrol station on Wadi Rawdan street, close to the West Bay Lagoon district.

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said the strike was aimed at the “senior leadership” of Hamas and involved 15 fighter jets that fired 10 precision munitions on a single target.

Israeli media reported that exiled leaders Khalil al-Hayya, the group’s chief negotiator, and Zaher Jabarin, a senior West Bank figure, were among those targeted, though their status remains unclear.

Hamas confirmed that five of its members were killed in the strike but said its negotiating delegation survived. The group also claimed that a Qatari security official died during the attack.

Qatar’s interior ministry later identified the officer as Warrant Corporal Badr Saad Mohammed Al-Humaidi Al-Dosari of the internal security force, known as Lekhwiya. Several other Qatari security personnel were reportedly injured.

Qatar, which has hosted Hamas’s political bureau since 2012, has been a key mediator in efforts to secure a ceasefire in Gaza following the October 7 attacks.

Tuesday’s strikes came a few days after Hamas said it was reviewing US-backed proposals for a truce that would see the release of 48 hostages in Gaza in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

Hamas accused Israel of trying to derail the talks and held Washington “jointly responsible” for the attack.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog defended the strike, describing it as “important and correct”. Benjamin Netanyahu, the country’s prime minister, said the attack “can open the door to an end of the war in Gaza”.

Netanyahu said it was “a wholly independent Israeli operation”.

“Israel initiated it, Israel conducted it, and Israel takes full responsibility,” he added.

Qatar’s interior ministry confirmed that the explosions “were the result of an Israeli strike targeting residential compounds housing members of the political bureau of Hamas.”

It added that Qatari authorities were working to secure the area and safeguard residents.

“Relevant authorities continue to survey and secure the targeted area with the Explosives Unit of the Internal Security Force (Lekhwiya), implementing field procedures in accordance with approved contingency plans to ensure effective containment and control of the situation,” the ministry said in a statement.

The strike marks a dramatic escalation in Qatar — one of the main brokers of negotiations between Israel, Hamas, and the US — and further complicates fragile ceasefire efforts.

‘FLAGRANT VIOLATION OF QATAR’S TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY’

Meanwhile, Antonio Guterres, the secretary general of the United Nations (UN), has condemned the airstrikes in Qatar.

In a video message, Guterres described the attack as a “flagrant violation” of Qatar’s sovereignty and warned that the action undermined ongoing efforts to secure a ceasefire in Gaza.

“We are just learning about Israeli attacks in Qatar, a country that has been playing a very positive role to achieve a ceasefire and the release of all hostages,” he said.

“I strongly condemn this flagrant violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Qatar. All parties must work towards achieving a permanent ceasefire, not destroying it.”