Mossad scraps plan to kill Hamas members in Qatar out of fear for hostages, WaPo reveals - Jerusalem Post Staff

 

by Jerusalem Post Staff

The security agency's reservations on targeting terror officials in Doha likely influenced the operation to be airstrikes from fighter jets instead, as opposed to on the ground.

 

Mossad logo and Israel flag are seen in this illustration taken May 6, 2025

(photo credit: REUTERS/DADO RUVIC)

 

The Mossad reportedly scrapped a plan it drew up in recent weeks to assassinate senior Hamas officials on Qatari soil using agents within the country, two Israelis familiar with the decision-making told The Washington Post in a Friday report.

The two Israelis, who spoke to the US source on condition of anonymity, said that the intelligence agency’s director, David Barnea, opposed the plan due to concerns about the future of the relationship the Mossad had built with the Qataris, noting that Doha was mediating hostage deal agreements between Israel and Hamas.

One of the Israelis told the US source that “this time, Mossad was unwilling to do it on the ground,” with the report referencing the assassination that killed then-Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh when a bomb was planted in his room in Iran. The other anonymous Israeli said, “We can get them in one, two, or four years from now, and the Mossad knows how to do it.”

The exclusive Washington Post report comes a day after a former senior official from the Israeli intelligence agency told 103FM radio station on Thursday that its indirect contact with Qatar may have caused some of its officials to object to Israel’s Tuesday airstrikes in Doha.

“I would hope that not everyone were ‘yes-men’ when discussions are being held,” the former official had said.

Head of Mossad David Barnea attends a ceremony held at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Museum in Jerusalem, as Israel marks the annual Holocaust Remembrance Day. April 23, 2025. (credit: CHAIM GOLDBEG/FLASH90)

Attacks from the air or on the ground?

The security agency’s reservations on targeting terror officials in Doha likely influenced the operation to be airstrikes from fighter jets instead, as opposed to on the ground, Friday’s Washington Post report also estimated. A separate report from The Wall Street Journal the same day said the fighter jets conducted their strikes against Hamas officials in the Qatari capital from the Red Sea.

The terrorist organization said on Friday that its acting leader, Khalil al-Hayya, survived the strike.

The Washington Post report cited Israeli officials saying that the Jewish state would repair its relations with Qatar over time.

103FM contributed to this report.

Jerusalem Post Staff

Source: https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/article-867293

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