After Israel carried out airstrikes in Qatar targeting Hamas leaders, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that the immunity of terror leaders abroad is “now over,” while predicting that the strikes could end the war in Gaza.
Politicians across the political spectrum also celebrated the attack, hailing the security and intelligence services and issuing warnings to remaining Hamas leaders who reside outside of Gaza and the West Bank.
According to Israeli officials, the strike was aimed at top Hamas leaders, including Khalil al-Hayya, the terror group’s exiled Gaza chief and top negotiator. An official said that Israel was increasingly optimistic that they were killed, though Hamas sources claimed the top officials survived the attack.
Right after the strike was carried out, the Prime Minister’s Office confirmed responsibility and said that it was an entirely Israeli operation, implying that the US was not involved.
“Today’s action against the top terrorist chieftains of Hamas was a wholly independent Israeli operation,” the PMO wrote. “Israel initiated it, Israel conducted it, and Israel takes full responsibility.”
In a joint statement, Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz said the strike was a direct response to Monday’s deadly terror shooting at a bus stop in Jerusalem that killed six and a Hamas attack on an Israeli tank in northern Gaza that killed four soldiers.
According to the statement, Netanyahu told security agencies Monday night to prepare for a strike on Hamas leaders abroad, and Katz had “fully supported the move.”
Then, an “operational opportunity” was identified at noon on Tuesday, the statement added, and the IDF and Shin Bet received the green light to go ahead with the attack.
“The prime minister and defense minister believed the operation was fully justified, given that this Hamas leadership was the one that initiated and organized the October 7 massacre,” Netanyahu and Katz said, “and has since continued to carry out murderous attacks against Israel and its citizens, including taking responsibility for the murder of our civilians in yesterday’s attack in Jerusalem.”
Speaking at a US Embassy event in Jerusalem hours later, Netanyahu said that “the days are over when terror leaders will enjoy immunity in a particular place.”
“Our enemies must know one thing,” he said, “since the creation of Israel, the blood of Jews is not cheap!”
The premier claimed Hamas leaders were meeting in the exact place where they had celebrated on October 7, 2023, while Hamas was still carrying out the slaughter inside Israel.
He also claimed that the war in Gaza can end “immediately.”
“This action can open the door to the end of the war in Gaza,” he said. “Israel has accepted the proposal put forward by President Trump to end the war, beginning with the immediate release of all our hostages.”
“If President Trump’s proposal is accepted, the war can end immediately,” according to Netanyahu, “We can begin once again to pursue the expansion of peace in our region for the benefit of all.”
In English, he turned to the Gazan people: “Don’t be derailed by these murderous terrorists, by these killers. They don’t care a hoot about you…Their partners in Gaza don’t care about you. They go to the underground tunnels, and they keep you above ground so you serve as human shields for them.”
“Stand up for your rights and for your future,” he continued. “Make peace with us, and accept President Trump’s proposal. Don’t worry, you can do it, and we can promise you a different future. But you’ve got to take these people out of the way. If you do, there is no limit to our common future.”
Right after authorizing the attack, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said that Israel will “settle accounts with our enemies” anywhere in the world.
“These are the terrorists whose only aspiration was to be the spearhead for the destruction of the State of Israel. We will continue to carry out this mission everywhere, at any range, near and far, in order to settle accounts with our enemies,” he told the Israeli Air Force pilots who set out to carry out the strikes, according to a readout published by the IDF.
“We are settling a moral and ethical score on behalf of all the victims of October 7. We will not rest and we will not be silent until we bring back our hostages and defeat Hamas,” Zamir added.
Israeli politicians hailed the strike, including Opposition Leader Yair Lapid, who released a statement congratulating “the Air Force, IDF, Shin Bet and all security forces for an extraordinary operation to thwart our enemy.”
Lapid notably did not mention anybody belonging to the political leadership who ordered the strike.
Unlike Lapid, Blue and White-National Unity chairman Benny Gantz commended “political leaders” for the decision to launch the strike, stating that Israel “must pursue Hamas terrorists and their leaders everywhere and at all times.”
“The most important thing now: not to miss opportunities. Leverage the achievements of our fighters to bring back all the hostages and replace Hamas rule in Gaza,” he tweeted.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich tweeted that “terrorists do not have and will not have immunity from the long arm of Israel anywhere in the world.”
“We made a correct decision and it was perfectly executed by the IDF and Shin Bet,” he wrote, thanking God.
“Jewish blood is no longer cheap. The decision we made to attack those who brought upon us the massacre of October 7 is another historic decision in a series of important and historic decisions we have made,” declared National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir. “I pursued my enemies and overtook them; I did not turn back till they were destroyed,” he adds, quoting from Psalm 18.
“Thus shall all thy enemies perish, O Lord,” posted Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi, in a reference to the Book of Judges, congratulating Netanyahu, his cabinet and Israel’s security forces “for a precise and lethal operation.”
“Israel’s long arm will not be shortened in the face of any enemy, whoever it may be,” he added.
Negev, Galilee and National Resilience Minister Yitzhak Wasserlauf tweeted, “To every place we want in every way we choose” alongside flexing muscle and Israeli flag emojis, while fellow Otzma Yehudit lawmaker Almog Cohen posted a photo of senior Hamas leaders with the word “revenge” in Arabic.
“The time has come to punish the little devil, the backbone of the great devil,” declared Likud MK Avichai Boaron, while Otzma Yehudit MK Zvika Fogel enthused that the Qataris, who have been involved in mediation efforts between Israel and Hamas, “have learned a new form of negotiation under fire.”
Religious Zionism MK Zvi Sukkot insisted that “there is no move that brings the return of the hostages closer than the elimination of Hamas leaders.”
“The leaders of Hamas are marked for death: every one of them. Our hostages are not. Netanyahu’s test after 704 days is one: the swift return of all hostages and the end of the war,” tweeted The Democrats MK Gilad Kariv.
While almost all Israeli politicians praised the attack, the Arab-majority Hadash party sharply condemned it, saying in a statement that “the assassination of the Hamas leadership in Doha is an attack on negotiations that poses a clear and immediate danger to the lives of the hostages.”
In a statement, the party insisted that the strike was “an illegal political decision whose entire purpose is to allow the continuation of the war of annihilation until the real goal of the Israeli government: the occupation of Gaza, ethnic cleansing, and settlement.”
“We condemn the assassination and call on the countries of the world to stop Israel from its genocidal moves,” it added.