Jerusalem [Israel], September 13: Israel's intelligence agency Mossad planned a ground operation to assassinate a Hamas leader in Qatar, but did not carry it out due to concerns about damaging the ceasefire negotiations.
According to The Times of Israel on September 13, there was internal division within Israel over the airstrike plan on Qatar, which was carried out by the military on September 9. Accordingly, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir, Mossad Director David Barnea and Israeli National Security Advisor Tzachi Hanegbi opposed the attack plan.
An Israeli official said the majority of Israel's defense establishment opposed an attack on Qatar. "The position is quite clear. There are talks about the release of Israeli hostages and discussions should take place. Everyone understands that an operation like this at this time could have consequences for the hostages," the official said.
On the other hand, supporters of the airstrike on the capital Doha ( Qatar ) included Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu , Defense Minister Israel Katz, acting director of the security agency (Shin Bet) known under the code name "Mem", and Strategy Minister Ron Dermer.
The Mossad intelligence agency even planned a ground operation in recent weeks to assassinate Hamas leaders, but did not carry it out. This forced Israel to consider the scenario of airstrikes on Qatar, The Washington Post on September 12 quoted informed sources.
Mr. Barnea opposed the idea of taking out the Hamas leader in Qatar, because Mossad has stable relations with Doha, as well as Qatar being the intermediary for ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas .
The Israeli airstrike on September 9 was said to have failed to kill any Hamas leaders. On September 12, Hamas announced that its Qatar-based leader Khalil al-Hayya attended the funeral of his son Hammam, denying rumors that he was killed in the Tel Aviv airstrike.
Also related to this attack, The Wall Street Journal on September 12 quoted US officials as saying that Israel calculated the attack so as not to enter Saudi Arabian airspace , while not giving Washington much time to protest.
The newspaper said eight F-15 fighter jets and four F-35 fighter jets took part in the operation, flying from southern Israel to the Red Sea, before launching ballistic missiles at Qatar.
Israel waited until the moment of the attack to notify the US. The US military detected the target as the capital of Qatar, Doha, after satellite sensors detected heat from the missile. By the time the US notified Qatar, the missile had been fired 10 minutes earlier.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper
