Transcription
I just want to repeat that, uh, breaking news that we're just getting through from Doha. We just don't have many details. We have a couple more, uh, coming through. Uh, this is after blasts were heard in Doha, in, uh, the capital, of course, of Qatar. That's coming through from the Reuters news agency. Well, just another one from AFP. Another short line saying this: Israel army says it's targeted Hamas leaders after blasts rock Doha.
So, those initial reports from Reuters saying they saw smoke. They had eyewitnesses in Doha, in Qatar, seeing smoke rising above the capital and the sound of blasts and explosions. And now we are getting slightly more detail. And, uh, I just want to read you this. Um, Israel has carried out a strike in the Qatari capital, Doha, targeting the senior leadership of Hamas. They reported to have been holding a meeting to discuss the latest Gaza ceasefire proposal. Several explosions were heard in the Qatari district of the city. Video posted online shows large plumes of smoke rising from the area.
So, just want to bring you the timeline as we have it. First, those reports of blasts in Doha, the capital of Qatar. Then eyewitnesses saying they saw smoke rising above the skyline there. Now, the understanding is that Israel has carried out a strike on Doha, targeting senior leadership of Hamas. They've been there, reportedly, holding a meeting to discuss the latest Gaza ceasefire proposal. Several explosions heard. This is all in the Qatari district of the city, of the capital. And there are videos, uh, posted online seemingly showing these large plumes of smoke rising from the area.
So, these developments coming through just in the last 20, 30 minutes or so. Of course, our teams here are working, uh, in the newsroom behind me to verify and double-check those videos that will be posted online of, uh, seemingly smoke rising and eyewitnesses describing those blasts there. Uh, but what we do know is that after those initial reports from agencies like the Reuters, uh, news agency and AFP news agency of these explosions, uh, now getting seemingly a bit more detail, the claims and reports that Israel have carried out a strike on the Qatari capital, Doha, targeting the senior leadership of Hamas. Uh, they are reported to have been holding a meeting to discuss the latest Gaza ceasefire proposal. Uh, we're working on just to get you a map of the region, just to show you a bit of the geography here and a bit of, uh, the region that we're talking about and where this smoke and where these blasts will have been heard.
Um, also getting through, uh, some of the, uh, statements. This, um, I'm being told, is an IDF announcement. Let me bring this to you. "The IDF and ISA conducted a precise strike targeting the senior leadership of the Hamas terrorist organization. For years, these members of the Hamas leadership have led the terrorist organization's operations and are directly responsible for the brutal October the 7th massacre and have been orchestrating and managing the war against the state of Israel. Prior to the strike, measures were taken in order to mitigate harms to civilians, including the use of precise munitions and additional intelligence. The IDF and ISA will continue to operate with determination in order to defeat the Hamas terrorist organization responsible for the October the 7th massacre."
So, that is the statement there posted on social media by the Israel Defense Forces, the IDF, the Israel military. So, that is the first official confirmation, it seems, posted on social media about this strike targeting senior leadership of Hamas after those reports in Doha of smoke rising up onto the skyline, of eyewitnesses hearing blasts in Doha, and then from the IDF, the Israeli military saying the IDF and the ISA have conducted a precise strike targeting the senior leadership of the Hamas terrorist organization. Well, that senior leadership, apparently there, reportedly there to be discussing potential ceasefire with Israel. But the IDF and the ISA conducted that, in their words, a precise strike targeting the senior leadership of the Hamas terrorist organization. Goes on to say this: "For years, these members of the Hamas leadership have led the terrorist organization's operations, are directly responsible for the brutal October the 7th massacre, and have been orchestrating and managing the war against the state of Israel. Prior to the strike, measures were taken in order to mitigate harm to civilians, including the use of precise munitions and additional intelligence. The IDF and ISA will continue to operate with determination in order to defeat the Hamas terrorist organization responsible for the October the 7th massacre."
So, if you are just joining us here, that, uh, news just in the last few minutes that we saw first of all, those reports of smoke, uh, uh, rising above the skyline in Doha, and now from the IDF, that apparent confirmation of a precise strike targeting the senior leadership of the Hamas terrorist organization. Well, we can speak now to Noa Tishler, who's a freelance journalist based in Tel Aviv. Thank you for coming on the program. Could you just talk us through what we know here?
Well, this is huge news. Um, the first questions that arise, of course, is did Israel coordinate this strike on Doha with the Qatari leadership and with the United States, that has one of its largest military bases anywhere in Qatar? Or was this kept a secret even from Donald Trump or the Qatari leadership? Um, a Saudi channel is reporting that Khalil Al-Haya, who is the top Hamas negotiator during all of these long months of negotiations for a ceasefire, hostage-prisoner exchange deal, that he was assassinated. That's the first named victim. We've heard it's a Saudi channel reporting it. This appears to be Israel simply throwing the kitchen sink at any hope of any negotiated agreement to end the war in Gaza.
And do we have any clarification on what the senior Hamas leaders were doing in Doha at the time of this strike? I mean, I don't know, but Doha has hosted the senior Hamas leadership, the, what used to be called the political leadership of Hamas for many, many years. Um, when this question of why not to attack them has come up previously in Israel, one of the explanations, and including from Qatari officials, has been that they agreed to take in this horrible terrorist group at the request of the United States. Uh, some have even said at the request of Israel because it was easier to monitor them. So, this line goes, if they were in Doha in a known place and not, you know, underground somewhere, Lord knows where. So, the question of their, of Qatar hosting them, sometimes even hosting them very lavishly, is a matter of, you know, long record and very much part of the controversy of Hamas.
Noa, thank you very much for coming on the program, just giving us your immediate reaction to that. Appreciate it. We're going to cross now to Paul Adams, who's standing by for us, our correspondent. Uh, Paul, just what are you hearing about what's happened here?
Well, the reports that we're getting suggest that this targeting of the senior leadership, something that the Israelis have already very quickly put out a statement about, appears to have killed them, or it may have killed them all. You heard Noa there just talking about Khalil Al-Haya, one of the most senior figures, but we have got a list of around six or seven people, uh, who it is, and we believe that all may have been killed in this strike, and they include Razi Hammad, who was a very familiar figure who's appeared sometimes as a kind of spokesman, has also been intimately involved in the negotiations. If it is true that, uh, that all of these individuals were killed in this strike, then what Israel has done effectively is to eliminate all of the senior Hamas figures with whom it was negotiating indirectly, uh, through the offices of the Qatari government, which obviously begs the question, uh, where do negotiations go now, given that Hamas continue to hold, uh, Israeli hostages in Gaza? Would appear to be, uh, Israel closing the door on any further negotiations and determined simply to destroy Hamas wherever and whenever it can.
And Paul, what does this mean for Qatar, that location for talks? What does it mean for it as a state and its role here?
Well, we believe that this is the first time the Israelis have carried out any operation of its kind, uh, in Qatar. Uh, of course, Qatar is not unfamiliar with being caught up in the violence of the region. Uh, there was an Iranian missile strike during the brief 12-day war between Iran and Israel earlier this year, uh, in which the Iranians targeted an American air base in Qatar. But this is a very different kind of operation. Uh, this, what clearly came, uh, with no warning. It was, uh, obviously a sophisticated operation. We don't know anything about how it was launched, whether this was some kind of air strike or a bomb planted in the building where these individuals were, were meeting. Uh, but it is a clearly a humiliating blow for the Qataris, who, as you were just discussing in your previous interview, have played this role, uh, as, as, as a key mediating power. It will, uh, be a source of enormous anger, uh, to the Qataris. I believe there is a statement already in which they condemn, uh, this operation. Um, and, you know, it is the shockwaves of this are going to reverberate for a good while, I would imagine.
And Paul, just on the, uh, uh, details, I suppose the sequencing here. What do we know about, uh, who spoke to who beforehand, if we have any details of that? And then just the sequencing of, of the order of events as things stand.
When you say who spoke to who, you mean about the attack?
Exactly. Yes.
I don't think anyone spoke to anybody. This came completely out of the blue. Now, the Israelis say they took steps to avoid civilian casualties. Whether that involved communicating with the Qataris, I very, very much doubt it. This sounds, this has the hallmarks of an intelligence-led, uh, Israeli operation in which no one would have been consulted. No one. Clearly, the Israelis were not going to alert anyone to the fact that they were just about to launch an attack on the senior leadership of Hamas. They wanted maximum success, and that would have involved maximum security. Uh, so this came completely out of the blue. Clearly, the Qataris will be launching some kind of investigation to find out, were there Israeli officials, uh, in town, uh, or Israeli individuals in town, or people operating on behalf of the Israelis? You know, the Israelis have a track record of, uh, operations in the Gulf. Uh, there was a famous one in the United Arab Emirates a few years ago, uh, in which, uh, Israeli operatives working on Canadian passports were involved in an assassination attempt. So, you know, there is a track record here. As I say, to the best of my knowledge, this is the first time that Qatar has been attacked in this way. And the Qataris will want to know exactly how the Israelis did this.