'Message to entire Middle East': Israel official issues warning after Doha strike; shares video

Speaker of Israel's Knesset Amir Ohana on Wednesday termed the IDF's air strikes on Qatar's Doha as a "message to the entire Middle East."

Ohana shared a video of the strike in a social media post on X and wrote, "This is a message to the entire Middle East."



This comes after Israel struck the headquarters of Hamas's political leadership in Qatar on Tuesday as the group's top figures gathered to consider US proposal for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.


The strikes marked an escalation and risked upending the talks aimed at winding down the war and freeing hostages.

Qatari authorities condemned the strikes as a “flagrant violation of all international laws and norms" as smoke rose over its capital, Doha.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a post on X that the operation was “wholly independent,” carried out by the Israel Defense Forces and the Israeli Security Agency. “Today’s action against the top terrorist chieftains of Hamas was a wholly independent Israeli operation. Israel initiated it, Israel conducted it, and Israel takes full responsibility,” it said.

A Hamas official told Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera that Israeli strikes killed six people including a Qatari security officer.

The US Embassy in Doha issued a shelter-in-place order for its staff and advised American citizens to stay indoors amid reports of missile strikes.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump distanced himself from the attack and claimed that the strike was ordered by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, not by him.


He added that he immediately directed special envoy Steve Witkoff to inform the Qataris of the attack, though it was “too late” to prevent it.

“This morning, the Trump Administration was notified by the United States Military that Israel was attacking Hamas which, very unfortunately, was located in a section of Doha, the Capital of Qatar. This was a decision made by Prime Minister Netanyahu, it was not a decision made by me,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

He criticised the attack, calling it a unilateral strike in a “Sovereign Nation and close Ally of the United States” that “does not advance Israel or America’s goals.” However, he added that “eliminating Hamas, who have profited off the misery of those living in Gaza, is a worthy goal.”