Israel shatters Hamas’s Doha sanctuary

In one dramatic strike, Israel has upended the rules of the game.

Hours after Hamas proudly claimed responsibility for the bus bombing that killed six Israelis in Jerusalem on Sunday, Israeli Air Force F-15s and F-35s delivered justice not in Gaza, not in Lebanon, but in the capital of Qatar, Doha, the gilded refuge of Hamas’s leadership.

For years, Qatar has bankrolled Hamas, sending suitcases stuffed with cash to fund the terror tunnels of Gaza and offering sanctuary to its commanders. While Hamas paraded its hatred of Jews openly, Qatar perfected the art of taqiyya—the calculated deception of pretending to mediate peace while hosting, protecting, and enabling jihad.

Its state-funded propaganda arm, Al Jazeera, has done more than any Arab army to delegitimise Israel, promoting the libel of “genocide” and building an entire front of psychological warfare against the Jewish state.

That sanctuary is now rubble. Reports indicate that much of Hamas’s top brass—Khalil al-Hayya, Zaher Jabarin, Musa Abu Marzouk, Husam Badran, Muhammad Ismail Darwish and perhaps even Khaled Mashaal—were killed in the strike. These were not minor figures. They were Yahya Sinwar’s heirs, masterminds of Oct. 7, 2023, and the men who used the hostages as human bargaining chips.

The consequences are enormous. The hostage deal Hamas’s Doha-based leaders sought to manipulate may be dead, but so is their leverage. Israel has again demonstrated its doctrine: what happened once will not be allowed to happen again.

Just as it confronted Gaza’s warlords, Hezbollah’s Hassan Nasrallah and Iran’s nuclear adventurism, Jerusalem has shown it will strike wherever necessary, even at the heart of an oil-rich emirate that fancied itself untouchable.

The United States, which controls the skies over Qatar thanks to its massive airbase there, is reported to have coordinated closely with Israel.

If so, this marks a profound shift. Washington may finally be tiring of Qatar’s duplicity—its role as Hamas’s patron, its alliance with the Muslim Brotherhood and its obstruction of peace initiatives, including U.S. President Donald Trump’s efforts to conclude the war before the midterms. The Saudis, who loathe Qatar, will see this as an opening to push forward a regional realignment under the Abraham Accords.

Qatar, predictably, has condemned the strike. But perhaps even Doha now recognises that tying itself to Hamas has brought only danger and disgrace. The mask of the “mediator” has slipped. Its sanctuary has been exposed for what it truly was: the penthouse headquarters of genocidal terror.

When Israel’s prime minister recently toured the soon-to-open October 7 Museum, one exhibit featured a book by Mashaal titled Hating the Jews placed alongside an Arabic edition of Mein Kampf.

Hamas’s leaders made no secret of their intent. Now, the world has been reminded that Israel will not allow such men to hide behind marble walls, oil wealth, or diplomatic fictions.

This is not just an Israeli victory. It is a warning to every regime that thinks it can bankroll terror with impunity: the days of immunity are over.