If Hamas is the octopus, then Qatar has been the reef where it camouflaged itself - hiding in plain sight while extending its reach. Almost a year after Israel assassinated Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut – something many believed Jerusalem would never dare to do - it set out on Tuesday to kill Hamas’ leadership in Doha. That, too, was something many thought Israel would never risk.
The strike gives substance to a mantra repeated time and again by Israel’s political and military leaders: Israel’s long arm will reach all those who plot to and murder Israelis. Skeptics always qualified that statement: “Sure - unless they live, as Hamas leaders have for years, openly and defiantly in Doha.”
If Israel before October 7 was trapped in a conceptzia (flawed assumption) that Hamas would never carry out the type of large-scale assault it ultimately did, Hamas was equally caught in its own illusion: that Qatar would always be a safe haven.
Why did they believe this? Because of Qatar’s ties with Israel. Because of its standing in the West. Because of its importance to the region. Because of its close alliance with Washington, which maintains its largest Middle East base there. Because of its central role in mediating between Israel and Hamas. (Read More)