In his first comments on the airstrikes in Qatar, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was fully responsible. “Today’s action against the top terrorist chieftains of Hamas was a wholly independent Israeli operation,” Netanyahu said in a statement. “Israel initiated it, Israel conducted it, and Israel takes full responsibility.”
The latest reports indicate that Israel’s unprecedented airstrike on a gathering of senior Hamas officials in Doha, Qatar on Tuesday may have failed to eliminate any of the terror group’s top leaders, according to multiple reports in the Hebrew media. The fate of these terrorists is unclear.
Israel’s public broadcaster, Kan, reported that the country’s security establishment is increasingly pessimistic regarding the impact of Tuesday’s attack, dubbed Operation Summit of Fire.
Time and again Israel accepts proposed ceasefires and deal, and Hamas repeatedly rejects them. Even if it is realized that the top Hamas leaders were not eliminated in the strike in Doha, Qatar it should be a clear message that the Israel will not miss an opportunity to hunt down terrorists responsible for October 7 until it finishes the job. Alternately, if the leaders were eliminated, the hostages still remain captive and an end to the war is not yet guaranteed.
Let’s remember Golda Meir’s 1969 remark: “We have always said that in our war with the Arabs, we had a secret weapon. No alternative.”