How long had Israel been planning its attack in Qatar?

On Tuesday afternoon, the Israeli subject targeted Hamas leaders successful Doha, drafting adjacent cosmopolitan condemnation and, according to analysts, crossing each erstwhile reddish lines.

The onslaught reportedly targeted Khalil al-Hayya, the group’s exiled Gaza person and main negotiator, who has risen up the ranks aft Israel assassinated Yahya Sinwar successful Gaza and Ismail Haniyeh successful Tehran past year. Qatar has hosted Hamas’s governmental bureau since 2012 astatine the petition of the United States, according to Qatari officials.

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The onslaught came arsenic Doha, which hosts the US’s largest subject basal successful the region, hosted ongoing ceasefire talks to effort and extremity Israel’s warfare connected Gaza, which has present killed much than 64,600 radical and wounded much than 163,000 since October 2023.

Immediately aft Israel’s attack, a question of conflicting accusation and speculation emerged, peculiarly implicit whether oregon not the US had been informed of the attack.

How was the onslaught planned, who knew astir it, and wherefore did it hap now?

What bash we know?

Israel admitted to the onslaught astir immediately.

“Israel initiated it, Israel conducted it, and Israel takes afloat responsibility,” a connection by Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

Israeli media claimed the cognition included the usage of 15 Israeli combatant jets that dropped 10 bombs. It besides included the usage of drones.

The onslaught targeted Hamas leadership, who were gathering to sermon US President Donald Trump’s ceasefire proposal, but they survived. However, six others, including a Qatari information officer, were killed.

Qatar’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani called the battle “state terrorism”, promising to respond to the strikes, which helium said “must not beryllium overlooked”.

How agelong had it been planned for?

Israeli media claims the operation, which was labelled “Summit of Fire”, took “months of preparation”.

Israeli officials besides told CNN that the determination to onslaught Doha was taken a portion ago, portion readying took spot implicit 2 to 3 months, accelerating successful caller weeks.

During the existent attack, Netanyahu was stationed successful the Shin Bet home quality headquarters.

Until now, Qatar has been the basal for negotiations betwixt Hamas and Israel. Due to that information and the beingness of a US subject basal successful Doha, galore believed it to beryllium disconnected limits to Israeli attacks.

But that veil of information seems to person been portion of Israel’s plan, defence expert Hamze Attar said.

“Israel [has been] incubating that Doha is simply a harmless portion for Hamas enactment to gather,” Attar, who is based successful Luxembourg, told Al Jazeera. “This is not an cognition that happens successful a time oregon two. This is thing you make for galore years successful bid to make a harmless haven for idiosyncratic truthful they support going determination and [eventually] destruct them successful a mode they bash not expect.”

Whose airspace did Israel usage to question to Qatar?

It’s not wholly clear.

When Israel attacked Iran earlier successful the year, its planes utilized Syrian and Iraqi airspace, since neither state has the capableness to sprout down Israeli planes.

Jordan, which does person aerial defence systems, claimed Israel did not usage its airspace for the attack.

Why did Israel onslaught now?

While the cognition had been planned for months, Netanyahu said it was a effect to a shooting successful occupied East Jerusalem that killed six radical connected Monday.

But immoderate analysts uncertainty Netanyahu’s explanation.

Right earlier the attack, Trump was ramping up his calls for a ceasefire. Netanyahu, however, whitethorn not beryllium funny successful a deal.

“I deliberation the bottommost enactment present is that Israel intelligibly is not funny successful immoderate benignant of ceasefire oregon negotiations for a ceasefire, that the reports astir Trump’s connection negotiating with Hamas, immoderate this revised caller connection was, was each a ruse and theatre and intelligibly a coordinated Israel-US onslaught successful Doha,” Mairav Zonszein, the International Crisis Group’s elder expert connected Israel, told Al Jazeera.

Other patterns person besides emerged that formed uncertainty connected Netanyahu’s explanation.

For months, Israel’s premier has besides launched subject attacks that coincide with demands that helium look successful court. Netanyahu is presently connected proceedings implicit corruption charges.

And connected Wednesday, Netanyahu returned to tribunal to attest successful his corruption trial. Footage showed Netanyahu entering the courtroom successful Tel Aviv arsenic proceedings successful the proceedings resumed for the archetypal clip successful much than a month.

The onslaught besides came amid Israeli demands that Palestinians permission Gaza City successful the Gaza Strip, wherever hundreds of thousands are taking refuge from Israel’s warfare connected Gaza. Many Palestinians person been displaced aggregate times and tin nary longer spend to evacuate, which could pb to galore much civilian casualties amid already increasing planetary unit implicit what scholars and human rights groups are calling Israel’s genocide of Palestinians successful Gaza, wherever famine has been declared.

Did the US cognize astir the attack?

The White House, including Trump himself, said the US authorities was informed astir the attack, but did not springiness galore details.

“The Trump medication was notified by the United States subject that Israel was attacking Hamas, which, precise unfortunately, was located successful a conception of Doha, the superior of Qatar,” White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told reporters.

Leavitt said that Trump told US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff to “inform the Qataris of an impending attack”.

With the US Al Udeid airbase successful Qatar, analysts said it would beryllium hard for Israel to propulsion disconnected specified an onslaught without being detected by the Americans.

Still, contempt the precocious knowledge, the US expressed discontent implicit Israel’s actions.

Trump said helium was “not thrilled” by the onslaught erstwhile interviewed by reporters.

“This was a determination made by [Israeli] Prime Minister Netanyahu, it was not a determination made by me,” Trump wrote connected his Truth Social platform.

This sentiment was bolstered by Leavitt, who told reporters during a property conference: “Unilaterally bombing wrong Qatar, a sovereign federation and adjacent state of the United States that is moving precise hard and bravely taking risks with america to broker peace, does not beforehand Israel oregon America’s goals. However, eliminating Hamas, who person profited disconnected the misery of those surviving successful Gaza, is simply a worthy goal.”

Was Qatar informed?

Qatari officials said that by the clip they were informed of the preplanned attack, explosions were already ringing retired crossed Doha.

Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani said the telephone from the US came 10 minutes aft the onslaught had already begun.

Furthermore, Majed al-Ansari, a spokesperson for Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said claims that the authorities had been “pre-informed of the onslaught are wholly false”.

“The telephone that was received from an American authoritative came during the dependable of the explosions that resulted from the Israeli onslaught successful Doha,” al-Ansari wrote successful a connection connected X.