"Honestly no one expected it to be an explosion (from an attack) here. I thought construction workers had dropped something heavy," the 27-year-old Qatari student, who did not want to give his family name, told AFP.
Shock rippled across the tiny, gas-rich emirate as the strikes hit the Palestinian militant group's compound in an upscale neighbourhood of Doha on Tuesday, killing six.
The attack, just three months after Iran attacked a US airbase in Qatar, again punctured the aura of calm that pervades the Gulf, which prides and promotes itself as an oasis of peace in the troubled Middle East.
It also cast serious doubt on Qatar-mediated Gaza ceasefire talks and undermined security reassurances to the Gulf from key ally Washington.
In a show of neighbourly solidarity, United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan flew to Qatar on Wednesday, and Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, will arrive on Thursday.
"(Qatar) has long been under a US security umbrella," said Asli Aydintasbas, a fellow at the Brookings Institution in a post on X.
"Now the Gulf will question the credibility of US security guarantees."
- 'Surprised we were struck twice' -
Any hint of instability could jeopardise Gulf economies that largely rely on foreign workers and are striving to draw tourism and investment to diversify their fossil fuel-reliant economies.
"The entire region will now fear that Israel could act against its adversaries regardless of borders or national sovereignty," said Prem Kumar, who oversaw US policy in the Middle East under the Obama administration.
Assem, 29, whose family found refuge in Qatar from the Palestinian territories decades ago, voiced surprise at the recent turbulence.
"For 29 years I've lived here safely... So I am very surprised that in a short period of time we were struck twice in a very protected and very safe country," he said.
Hamas says senior officials were not killed in Tuesday's attack, which came as they met to discuss a new Gaza ceasefire proposal from Washington.
An aide and the son of Khalil al-Hayya, the top Hamas negotiator, and three bodyguards died, along with a Qatari security officer, the group said.
Doha has hosted several rounds of indirect Israel-Hamas talks in Doha and helped broker two short-lived truces, with the US and Egypt as fellow mediators.
While Qatar's prime minister insisted mediation efforts will continue, he said no negotiations were planned currently in light of the attack.
Andreas Krieg, a senior lecturer at King's College London, called it a "strike right at the heart of regional mediation" -- and one that Washington failed to prevent.
"It shows that Trump is unable to actually enforce the policy that he is setting, which was one built around mediation," he told AFP.
- Trump plane gift -
A major Western ally, Qatar houses the biggest US base in the region and agreed to host the Hamas political bureau from 2012 only with US blessing.
US President Donald Trump toured the Gulf in May, securing investment pledges worth hundreds of billions of dollars and a major order for Boeing planes from Qatar Airways.
Qatar even gifted Trump a $400 million luxury aircraft to serve as the new Air Force One, the official presidential plane.
Yet Qatar's warm relations with the United States could not shield it from the Israeli strikes on Hamas.
Trump said he was not notified in advance and when he heard, asked his envoy Steve Witkoff to warn Qatar immediately -- but the attack had already started.
The strike "will also put further strain on US-Qatar relations, which is exactly what Israel wants to do", said Krieg.
"It wants to drive a wedge between Qatar and the United States."
Israel defends Qatar strikes after rebuke from Trump
Jerusalem (AFP) Sept 10, 2025 -
Israel's UN envoy defended targeting Hamas leaders in Qatar as the "right" decision on Wednesday, after the strikes on the US ally's soil drew a rare rebuke from President Donald Trump.
The White House said Trump did not agree with Israel's decision to take military action on Tuesday and had warned Qatar in advance of the incoming strikes.
But Qatar, which hosts a large US military base and has spearheaded repeated rounds of Gaza truce efforts, said it had not received the warning from Washington until the deadly attack was already under way.
Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, sought to justify the decision, telling an Israeli radio station: "We don't always act in the interests of the United States."
"We are coordinated, they give us incredible support, we appreciate that, but sometimes we make decisions and inform the United States," he said.
"It was not an attack on Qatar; it was an attack on Hamas," Danon told 103FM.
Palestinian militant group Hamas said six people were killed in the strikes, including an aide and an adult son of its top negotiator Khalil al-Hayya, as well as three bodyguards and a Qatari security officer.
But the group said its senior leaders had survived, affirming "the enemy's failure to assassinate our brothers in the negotiating delegation".
Danon said Israel was "still waiting for the results" of the operation.
"It is too early to comment on the outcome, but the decision is the right one," he added.
According to sources close to Hamas, six Hamas leaders including Hayya and former top leader Khaled Meshaal were in the building targeted by Israel at the time of the strike. AFP has been unable to reach any of them since then.
Qatar said the strikes targeted the homes of several members of Hamas's political bureau residing in the Gulf country.
- 'Not thrilled' -
Trump said he was not notified in advance of the Israeli attack and was "not thrilled about the whole situation".
Speaking to reporters during a rare outing to a Washington restaurant, he said: "We want the hostages back, but we are not thrilled about the way that went down today."
Qatar's prime minister said it reserved the right to respond to the Israeli attack, which it said constituted a "pivotal moment" for region.
Defence Minister Israel Katz vowed that Israel would "act against its enemies anywhere".
"There is no place where they can hide," he wrote on X, adding that "everyone who took part in the October 7 massacre will be held fully accountable," referring to Hamas's October 2023 attack on Israel that sparked the nearly two-year Gaza war.
In a post on social media, Trump insisted that "this was a decision made by Prime Minister Netanyahu, it was not a decision made by me".
"I view Qatar as a strong Ally and friend of the U.S., and feel very badly about the location of the attack," he said, adding Hamas's elimination was still a "worthy goal".
- 'Grave violation' -
Russia and China meanwhile joined an international chorus of condemnation on Wednesday, with Moscow saying the operation undermined peace efforts in the Middle East.
"Russia considers the incident a grave violation of international law... an encroachment on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of an independent state, and a step leading to further escalation," said Russia's foreign ministry.
Beijing expressed similar concerns and "dissatisfaction with actions by certain parties that undermine the ceasefire negotiations in Gaza".
Along with the United States and Egypt, Qatar has led multiple attempts to end the Israel-Hamas war and secure the release of the remaining hostages.
Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.
Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed at least 64,605 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza that the United Nations considers reliable.
EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said Wednesday she would push to sanction "extremist" Israeli ministers and curb trade ties over the dire situation in Gaza.
Israel's foreign minister, Gideon Saar, hit back, writing on X that Europe was sending "the wrong message that strengthens Hamas and the radical axis in the Middle East."
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