This article was originally published by Tyler Durden at ZeroHedge.
Multiple explosions have been reported in Doha, Qatar, on Tuesday, according to eyewitnesses cited by Reuters. Initial reports suggest a missile strike or a series of possible aerial strikes.
Axios journalist Barak Ravid, referencing Israeli officials, reported that the blasts were believed to be part of an assassination attempt targeting Hamas members. Netanyahu is really going gloves off at this point, it appears, and all negotiations seem definitively off.
“Israeli official tells me the explosion in Doha is an assassination attempt against Hamas officials,” Axios’ Ravid reports.
Could this be Hamas targeting the negotiating team, or other Hamas leaders who have long hidden out in Qatar? It was apparently an Israeli aerial attack, which is going to outrage the Gulf states over the violation of airspace:
In the first official US comment on the attack, the American embassy in Doha says it has seen “reports of missile strikes occurring” in the Qatari capital.
Channel 12 is citing an Israeli official who says US President Trump gave the green light for the attack on Hamas leadership. There are emerging reports that US and UK surveillance planes were in the air over the Gulf at the time of the strike.
The attack has resulted in the US Embassy in Doha issuing a shelter-in-place order for US citizens in the country. The UAE is also said to be furious over the attack. It has condemned the “treacherous” attack by Israel.
Israel Channel 12: Hamas Gaza leader Khalil al-Hayya was the primary target of the Israeli attack on Doha.
According to more confirmation via The Wall Street Journal:
The attack targeted Hamas leaders Khalil Al-Hayya and Zaher Jabarin, one of the officials said. It wasn’t immediately clear whether anyone was killed in the attack or how it was carried out.
Defense Minister Israel Katz earlier warned Hamas leaders abroad that they would be “annihilated” if the group didn’t lay down its arms.
But Al Jazeera is reporting that Al-Hayya has survived the attack. “A Hamas source tells Al Jazeera that Israeli strikes targeted officials from the group who were meeting in Doha to discuss Trump’s ceasefire proposal,” the regional outlet says. Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has written on social media, “Terrorists have no and will have no immunity from the long arm of Israel anywhere in the world.”
The actions sparked a surge in oil prices as geopolitical risk premia re-emerge…
OPEC+ will be pleased.
developing…