Nowhere safe: Israel hits Hamas leaders in Doha

When America killed Bin Laden in Pakistan, the world cheered. Israel hits Hamas leaders in Doha and is condemned. The hypocrisy is staggering — but the message from Jerusalem is not: after October 7, the murderers of Jews will never sleep safely again.

On September 9, Israel struck deep inside Doha, Qatar’s capital, hitting a group of senior Hamas officials who had long believed themselves untouchable. Six people were killed — five Hamas operatives and one Qatari security officer. Whether the entire leadership cell was eliminated or only some of its deputies remains unclear. What is crystal clear, however, is the message: those responsible for October 7 will never find safe haven again.

The Doha operation

The strike occurred as Hamas negotiators gathered in Qatar to discuss the latest American ceasefire proposal. Among those reportedly present was Khalil al-Hayya, one of Hamas’s most prominent political leaders. Hamas claims he survived, but admitted that several top officials were killed. For Qatar, the incident is a humiliation: an attack in the very heart of its capital, inside a supposedly inviolable diplomatic zone.

The Qatari government lashed out, calling the operation a flagrant violation of sovereignty. Russia, China, the United Kingdom and others echoed the outrage. Israel, as usual, faced the predictable storm of condemnation. None of that changes the underlying fact: the planners and perpetrators of the October 7 massacre are being hunted, wherever they may hide.

Who sleeps badly?

Since Munich 1972, Israel has lived by one principle: those who shed Jewish blood will never again sleep in peace. The price for murdering innocent civilians is steep — and it is collected, sooner or later. That was true for the terrorists who butchered Olympic athletes in Germany, and it is true today for those who unleashed horror on October 7. Israel is proving once again that memory is long and reach is longer.

The war Hamas started

It bears repeating: this war did not begin with Israeli airstrikes, nor with special operations. It began with Hamas’s barbaric, unprovoked assault on October 7, 2023. That day more than 1,200 Israelis were massacred and hundreds abducted in a spree of slaughter that shocked the world. That was the starting gun. Everything since has been response.

And the war is not confined to Gaza. Hamas is just one tentacle of the Iranian octopus. Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, Revolutionary Guard officers in Tehran — all form part of the same web of aggression aimed at weakening and ultimately destroying Israel. Today that patchwork is unraveling. Hezbollah is bled militarily and politically, the Houthis are taking heavy hits, Hamas has lost its infrastructure and now its leadership.

Hypocrisy and double standards

Predictable outrage erupted over Israel’s strike on Qatari soil. Yet the hypocrisy is breathtaking. When the United States eliminated Osama bin Laden in Pakistan in 2011 — also a sovereign country, also without permission — the world applauded. Israel eliminates those responsible for the deadliest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, and it is jeered.

The West, which once declared that no nation may harbor terrorists, suddenly applies a different yardstick when it comes to Israel. It is the same selective indignation that echoes through countless UN resolutions and op-eds: Israel is allowed to defend itself, but only so long as it does so ineffectively. The moment it succeeds, it is condemned as “disproportionate.”

“I choose victory”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made the government’s stance unambiguous:

“If I have to choose between victory over our enemies and evil propaganda against us — I choose victory.”

That is the essence of Israel’s strategy. The propaganda war may be lost. The military war cannot be. No government in Jerusalem can allow Hamas leaders to strut around luxury hotels, plotting their next massacre, while Israeli families are still burying their dead and waiting for hostages to come home.

That is why Doha was struck. And that is why no sanctuary — not Beirut, not Sana’a, not Tehran, not Doha — will remain safe. Those responsible for October 7 are living on borrowed time.

The outcome is inevitable

Nearly a year into this war, Israel is steadily achieving its objectives. Hamas is crippled. Hezbollah is staggering. The Houthis are isolated. Iran’s proxies are exhausted.

International criticism will not alter this reality. Israel did not start this war — it was dragged into it by Hamas on October 7. But Israel will finish it, and finish it decisively. For a country fighting for survival, there is no alternative.

The strike in Doha is not just a spectacular operation. It is a signal — to Hamas, to Hezbollah, to Tehran, to anyone watching. Israel is not intimidated, not deterred, and not backing down. The enemies of Israel sleep badly tonight. And so they should.