Behind the Scenes of Israel's Qatar Strike: Why Was Israel Afraid of Turkey?

Days after Israel’s dramatic strike in Doha, the capital of Qatar, more and more details are coming to light about the assassination attempt on Hamas leaders, although it remains unclear whether it was successful.

New details revealed by i24news claim that a team of forensic experts came to Qatar from France and have so far identified the remains of four bodies, in addition to the five deaths that Hamas announced in the first hours after the attack.

This report is consistent with another report in the Al Arabi newspaper regarding the finding of remains.

The source raises questions in light of the fact that so far no one from the Hamas leadership in Qatar has been seen in the media.

According to a report in Lebanese media, Israel made the decision to assassinate senior Hamas leaders not only for their full participation in the massacre but also for their responsibility in the failure of hostage negotiations.

Why Qatar and Not Turkey?

Initially, the option of assassinating the leaders during their visit to Turkey was considered. However, Prime Minister Netanyahu reportedly feared a Turkish response and preferred to carry out the assassination in Qatar, under the assumption that President Trump would know how to handle the consequences with the Qataris.

Additionally, Turkey is a member of NATO, and an attack on its soil could have had significant political and economic consequences for Israel.

According to a report by Amit Segal, President Trump was updated on the assassination a short time before it was carried out. Immediately after being briefed, Trump called special envoy Witkoff to update him.

According to the report, Witkoff attempted to reach the Qatari Prime Minister but he did not answer his phone. Because of this, Witkoff called the Prime Minister’s close confidant. One minute later, the explosions were heard in Qatar.