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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Israel launched a onslaught targeting Hamas' enactment successful Qatar connected Tuesday arsenic they considered a U.S. connection for a ceasefire successful the Gaza Strip. The onslaught connected the territory of a U.S. state marked a stunning escalation and risked upending talks aimed astatine winding down the warfare and freeing hostages.
A White House authoritative tells NewsNation they were fixed announcement of the strike.
Qatar, an energy-rich U.S. state hosting thousands of American troops, had served arsenic a cardinal mediator betwixt Israel and Hamas adjacent earlier the war. It condemned what it referred to arsenic a “flagrant usurpation of each planetary laws and norms" arsenic fume roseate implicit its capital, Doha.
It was not instantly wide if anyone was wounded successful the strike. Hamas has survived galore assassinations of apical leaders and is inactive intact successful Gaza, contempt having suffered large blows since the outbreak of the warfare triggered by its Oct. 7, 2023, onslaught connected Israel.
The aboriginal of the long-stalled ceasefire talks was much uncertain, arsenic Israel gears up for a large violative aimed astatine taking implicit Gaza City. That escalation has been met with dense planetary condemnation and absorption wrong Israel from those who fearfulness it volition doom the remaining hostages.
U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres condemned the attack, saying "all parties indispensable enactment towards achieving a imperishable ceasefire, not destroying it.”
Israel had agelong threatened Hamas successful Qatar
Israel has agelong threatened to onslaught Hamas leaders wherever they are. While it has often welcomed Qatar's relation arsenic a mediator, alongside Egypt, it has besides accused the Gulf federation of not putting capable unit connected the group.
In opposition to erstwhile Israeli operations against elder militants abroad, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was speedy to publically assertion the strike, saying: “Israel initiated it, Israel conducted it and Israel takes afloat responsibility."
He said the determination was taken Monday aft a shooting onslaught successful Jerusalem that killed six radical and an onslaught connected Israeli forces successful Gaza that killed 4 soldiers.
Israel alerted the U.S. up of time, according to an Israeli authoritative and different idiosyncratic acquainted with the matter, who were not authorized to remark publically and spoke connected information of anonymity. There was nary authoritative remark from the White House oregon Pentagon.
The Israeli subject said it utilized “precise munitions and further intelligence” successful the strike, without elaborating. It was not instantly wide however it carried retired the attack.
Qatar condemned what it referred to arsenic a “cowardly Israeli attack” connected Hamas’ governmental office successful Doha. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari called it a “flagrant usurpation of each planetary laws and norms" and said Qatar “will not tolerate this reckless Israeli behavior.”
Egypt, different cardinal mediator with Hamas, condemned the attack, saying it targeted Palestinian leaders who had met “to sermon ways to scope a ceasefire agreement.” It said the onslaught was a “direct assault” connected Qatar’s sovereignty.
The main radical representing families of the hostages expressed “deep interest and large fear” aft the strike. “The imaginable of their instrumentality present faces greater uncertainty than ever, with 1 happening perfectly definite — their clip is moving out,” the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said successful a statement.
The U.S. embassy successful Qatar concisely instituted a shelter-in-place bid for its staff, but aboriginal lifted that.
Ceasefire negotiations successful doubt
Earlier this week, U.S. President Donald Trump said helium was giving his “last warning” to Hamas regarding a imaginable ceasefire, arsenic the U.S. precocious a caller connection that Arab officials said included the contiguous merchandise of each the hostages.
A elder Hamas authoritative called it a “humiliating surrender document,” but the militant radical said it would sermon the connection and respond wrong days.
An Egyptian authoritative said the onslaught came erstwhile a gathering by Hamas officials implicit the talks had been scheduled for the site. The authoritative spoke connected information of anonymity due to the fact that helium wasn’t authorized to speech to reporters.
The proposal, presented by Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, calls for a negotiated extremity of the warfare and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza erstwhile the hostages are released and a ceasefire is established. That's according to Egyptian and Hamas officials acquainted with the talks, who spoke connected information of anonymity to sermon the closed-door discussions.
Hamas has said it volition lone merchandise the remaining 48 hostages, astir 20 of whom are believed to beryllium alive, successful speech for Palestinian prisoners, a lasting ceasefire and a implicit Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. Netanyahu has rejected those terms, saying the warfare volition proceed until each the hostages are returned and Hamas has been disarmed, with Israel maintaining open-ended information power implicit Gaza.
Mediators had antecedently focused connected brokering a impermanent ceasefire and the merchandise of immoderate hostages, with the 2 sides past holding talks connected a much imperishable truce. Witkoff walked distant from those talks successful July, aft which Hamas accepted a connection that mediators said was astir identical to an earlier 1 that Israel had approved.
International outrage
The warfare successful Gaza has already near Israel progressively isolated internationally, with adjacent galore of its Western allies calling for it to extremity the warfare and bash much to code the humanitarian catastrophe successful Gaza, parts of which are experiencing famine.
Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the United Arab Emirates' overseas minister, expressed “full solidarity with our beloved Qatar" soon aft the attack.
The United Arab Emirates precocious warned Israel that immoderate determination to annex the occupied West Bank would endanger the Abraham Accords, a landmark statement brokered by Trump during his archetypal word successful which the 2 nations normalized relations.
Trump hopes to grow those accords to see determination heavyweight Saudi Arabia, but those prospects person dimmed arsenic the warfare has crushed on.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman described the onslaught arsenic a “criminal enactment and a flagrant usurpation of planetary law" successful a telephone telephone with Qatar's ruler.
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Federman reported from Jerusalem. Associated Press writers Samy Magdy successful Cairo, and Aamer Madhani and Darlene Superville successful Washington contributed.
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Follow AP’s warfare sum astatine https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
