Israel conducts ‘precise strike’ on Hamas leadership in Qatar: Officials
ABC News
(DOHA, Qatar) — Israel has conducted a precise strike in Doha targeting senior Hamas leadership on Tuesday, according to separate statements from the Israel Defense Forces and Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“For years, these members of the Hamas leadership have led the terrorist organization’s operations, are directly responsible for the brutal October 7th massacre, and have been orchestrating and managing the war against the State of Israel,” the IDF said in a statement.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the action against top Hamas leadership was a “wholly independent Israeli operation.”
“Israel initiated it, Israel conducted it, and Israel takes full responsibility,” Netanyahu’s office said.
“The State of Qatar condemns in the strongest terms the cowardly Israeli attack targeting the residential headquarters of several members of the Hamas Political Bureau in the Qatari capital, Doha. This criminal attack constitutes a flagrant violation of all international laws and norms and a serious threat to the security and safety of Qataris and residents of Qatar,” a spokesperson for Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs posted on X.
Qatar said its agencies immediately responded to the incident.
“While the State of Qatar strongly condemns this attack, it affirms that it will not tolerate this reckless Israeli behavior, its continued tampering with regional security, or any action targeting its security and sovereignty. Investigations are underway at the highest level, and further details will be announced as soon as they become available,” the spokesperson said.
The U.S. Embassy in Doha has issued a shelter-in-place order for their facilities due to the missile strikes.
“U.S. citizens are advised to shelter-in-place and monitor USEmbassyDoha social media for updates,” the embassy said in a statement on X.
A U.S. defense official said “we’re aware of these reports but do not have any additional information to provide.”
Qatar is home to the largest U.S. military base in the region. Al-Udeid air base was attacked by Iran in June, with Qatari forces helping the U.S. to intercept the missiles.
Hamas leadership and its primary negotiators have been based in Doha for years while trying to get a ceasefire and hostage release deal.
The IDF did not provide a location for where the attack was conducted. It’s also unclear whether any target was killed in the strike.
“Prior to the strike, measures were taken in order to mitigate harm to civilians, including the use of precise munitions and additional intelligence,” the IDF said.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(LONDON) — Nepal’s Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli resigned on Tuesday after a social media ban sparked violent protests in which at least 19 people died on Monday.
Even after the government’s social media restrictions were rolled back, the protests continued on Tuesday in Nepal’s Kathmandu, were protestors were reportedly setting homes of political leaders on fire.
Oli had earlier blamed “external infiltrators” for violence.
The homes of several politicians — including Sher Bahadur Deuba, leader of the largest party Nepali Congress; President Ram Chandra Poudel; Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak and leader of the Communist Party of Nepal Maoist Pushpa Kamal Dahal — were set on fire, The Associated Press reported.
The Monday clashes left 19 dead and 421 injured, according to the government. An indefinite curfew was put in place in the capital and Tribhuvan Airport has been shut down, with all flights cancelled.
“I’m protesting. I didn’t like it. I hate it. I’m opposing it!” Rajendra Bajgain, a member of parliament, told ABC News after Monday’s protests.
The protests began after the government decision to ban social media platforms, including Facebook, WhatsApp and YouTube. That ban was seen by many as an attack on freedom of speech — and an extension of what some described as the government’s corrupt nature.
“Ministers are corrupt. They are doomed with the PM,” Bajgain said prior to the prime minister’s resignation. “Listen to me very clearly, very loudly: if [the prime minister] continues the ban, he’s going to finish in a couple of days.”
In a statement released on Sept. 4, Committee to Protect Journalists Regional Director Beh Lih Yi said that the ban would essentially be “blocking online news platforms vital to journalists [and] will undermine reporting and the public’s right to information.”
(LONDON) — Three more countries have joined the original 25 nations that released a joint statement this week calling for the immediate end of the war in Gaza and accusing Israel of not allowing sufficient aid in, demanding it must do so to comply with international humanitarian law.
“We, the signatories listed below, come together with a simple, urgent message: the war in Gaza must end now,” the original statement, released on July 21, began. “The suffering of civilians in Gaza has reached new depths. The Israeli government’s aid delivery model is dangerous, fuels instability and deprives Gazans of human dignity.”
“The Israeli Government’s denial of essential humanitarian assistance to the civilian population is unacceptable. Israel must comply with its obligations under international humanitarian law,” the statement further said.
Throughout the conflict, Israel has maintained they are sending enough aid into Gaza but international aid organizations have repeatedly said there is not enough aid, and the United Nations has reported conditions of malnutrition inside of Gaza.
The statement was initially signed by the foreign ministers of Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the U.K. The foreign ministers of Greece, Malta and Cyprus have now also signed the statement as of July 22.
The call to action was released Monday following an incident Sunday in which at least 81 Palestinians were killed and another 150 were injured while trying to gain access to food, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health, which said the majority of those killed were gathered near the Zikim border between Gaza and Israel.
The Israel Defense Forces said Sunday that its troops fired near crowds “in order to remove an immediate threat posed to them,” though it wasn’t specific. A review is ongoing, but “preliminary review indicates that the reported number of casualties does not align with existing information,” according to the IDF.
On Tuesday, the Hamas-run Ministry of Health reported that hospitals in the Gaza Strip had recorded the deaths of 15 people, including four children, due to famine and malnutrition over the past 24 hours. That brings the total number of deaths from famine and malnutrition since the war began to 101, which includes 80 children, according to the health ministry.
Oren Marmorstein, a spokesperson for the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said in a statement on X Monday in response to the initial announcement that Israel “rejects” the then-25-nation joint statement “as it is disconnected from reality and sends the wrong message to Hamas.”
“All statements and all claims should be directed at the only party responsible for the lack of a deal for the release of hostages and a ceasefire: Hamas, which started this war and is prolonging it,” Marmorstein’s statement said.
The statement further said that while there is a “concrete proposal for a ceasefire deal,” Hamas “stubbornly refuses to accept it.”
“The statement fails to focus the pressure on Hamas and fails to recognize Hamas’s role and responsibility for the situation.” Marmorstein said. “Hamas is the sole party responsible for the continuation of the war and the suffering on both sides.”
“At these sensitive moments in the ongoing negotiations, it is better to avoid statements of this kind,” the Marmorstein statement concluded.
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee on Monday called the initial joint statement “disgusting” in a post on X. “25 nations put pressure on @Israel instead of savages of Hamas! Gaza suffers for 1 reason: Hamas rejects EVERY proposal. Blaming Israel is irrational,” the post said.
At least 875 people have been killed in Gaza while trying to get food aid in recent weeks, according to the United Nations.
“It is horrifying that over 800 Palestinians have been killed while seeking aid,” the joint statement said. It also condemned Hamas for refusing to release the remaining Israeli hostages.
“The hostages cruelly held captive by Hamas since 7 October 2023 continue to suffer terribly. We condemn their continued detention and call for their immediate and unconditional release,” the statement said. “A negotiated ceasefire offers the best hope of bringing them home and ending the agony of their families.”
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said in a statement Monday that he is “appalled by the accelerating breakdown of humanitarian conditions in Gaza.”
The “last lifelines keeping people alive are collapsing,” Guterres said in part, adding that he “condemns the ongoing violence, including the shooting, killing, and injuring of people attempting to get food for their families.”
“Civilians must be protected and respected, and they must never be targeted. The population in Gaza remains gravely undersupplied with the basic necessities of life,” Guterres’ statement said.
With the joint statement, the 28 signatory countries further called on the Israeli government to “immediately lift restrictions on the flow of aid and to urgently enable the UN and humanitarian NGOs to do their life saving work safely and effectively,” and for “all parties to protect civilians and uphold the obligations of international humanitarian law.”
“We urge the parties and the international community to unite in a common effort to bring this terrible conflict to an end, through an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire,” the statement continued. “Further bloodshed serves no purpose.We reaffirm our complete support to the efforts of the US, Qatar and Egypt to achieve this.”
“We are prepared to take further action to support an immediate ceasefire and a political pathway to security and peace for Israelis, Palestinians and the entire region,” the statement concluded.
On Sunday, Pope Leo XIV also renewed calls for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
“I once again call for an immediate end to the barbarity of this war and for a peaceful resolution to the conflict,” the pope said during Sunday Angelus prayer from his summer retreat in Castel Gandolfo, according to the Associated Press.
(TURNBERY, Scotland) — As international pressure to deliver more food aid to Gaza builds, the Kingdom of Jordan is “continuing to request assistance in the form of pledges to contribute aircraft, supplies, humanitarian aid, and logistical support” for its airdrop operation — but the Trump administration has no active plans to join European allies in helping with the mission at present, according to an internal State Department communication reviewed by ABC News on Monday and two U.S. officials familiar with the matter.
Per the communication, Jordan has informed the State Department of its intention to launch a three-week airdrop operation beginning in early August — in addition to the drops conducted with the United Arab Emirates that took place Sunday — and the department is tracking various pledges to assist with the operation from Spain, Belgium, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom.
“Emphasizing the irreplicable role of land routes and minimizing the risk of casualties due to airdrops are continued concerns among potential contributors,” the department communication noted.
Some aid organizations have also publicly expressed concerns about the efficacy and safety of airdrops.
“Airdrops are the most expensive & inefficient way to deliver aid. It is a distraction to the inaction,” Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency Philippe Lazzarini wrote in a post on X on Friday.
Earlier Monday, President Donald Trump promised the U.S. would be “even more involved” when it comes to delivering aid to Gaza, saying this administration would work with European allies to set up “food centers” with fewer restrictions on access.
He also suggested that additional assistance could come in the form of the U.S. helping with air drops if his administration chose to do so.
“We did some airlifts before, some airdrops,” he said following a meeting with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer. “It’s not very hard to do, actually.”
Jordan has also informed the State Department that it encountered significant delays when moving aid into Gaza by ground on Sunday, stating that the Israeli government allowed only 25 out of 60 trucks traveling from Jordan to enter the enclave. According to the internal communication, the Jordanian Armed Forces reported that the screening of the aid convoy “went substantially slower” than it has for three previous convoys organized by the country.
The 25 trucks that were permitted entry on Sunday were carrying World Food Programme contents, while the delayed trucks were carrying food supplies from other organizations, including World Central Kitchen and the Jordan Hashemite Charity Organization, it added.
Jordan has informed the department of its intention to move two more convoys into Gaza this week, according to the communication.
“President Trump wants to alleviate suffering for the people of Gaza because he has a humanitarian heart. He announced a new aid plan today to help Gazans obtain crucial access to food – details are forthcoming,” White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly said in a comment to ABC News.
Trump said earlier that European countries would also help with his plan to set up food centers but shared few other details about his vision.
“We have all of the European nations joining us, and others also have called. So, we’re going to set up food centers and where the people can walk in and no boundaries. We’re not going to have fences,” he said.
Regarding ABC News reporting on Jordan’s request for assistance with its air drop operation and the reported delay moving ground aid into Gaza caused by Israel, a State Department spokesperson responded, “President Trump has called for creative solutions ‘to help the Palestinians’ in Gaza, and we welcome any effective effort that delivers food to Gazans and keeps it out of the hands of Hamas.”
“At this time, GHF remains the best mechanism for getting aid into the hands of people in desperate need in Gaza while also keeping aid out of the hands of Hamas,” the spokesperson said, referring to the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
“A track record of distributing over 94 million meals to date while preventing any Hamas looting is absolutely incredible and should be commended and supported. We call on other aid agencies and the UN to participate in this secure aid delivery system and take GHF up on its offer to use its system to deliver food to Gazans in need,” the spokesperson said.
The Trump administration has pledged at least $30 million to the GHF and thrown its full support behind the controversial charity despite concerns from critics regarding its aid distribution practices.
Earlier this month, more than 160 charity groups and NGOs called for the GHF to be shut down, claiming that more than 500 Palestinians had been killed while seeking aid from the organization and that its distribution locations “have become sites of repeated massacres in blatant disregard for international humanitarian law.”
The United Nations has also rejected requests to cooperate with GHF.
“We welcome working with any other partners. All we ask is that those partners work based on the most basic humanitarian principles, one of them being that don’t set up an operation that will increase the risk of people to be shot at or trampled while trying to get food,” U.N. spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said in a press conference last week.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation pushed back on the criticism in a statement to ABC News.
“While Oxfam, MSF and these other groups hold press conferences and send out threatening letters, GHF is on the ground feeding people,” a GHF spokesperson said.
“We’ve offered to help them deliver it safely. They’ve refused. The humanitarian community must return to its core mission — feeding people — not protecting outdated systems or avoiding the discomfort of change.
In a letter sent to Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday, a group of 21 Democratic senators called for the Trump administration to immediately cease funding for the GHF and resume support for the existing U.N-led aid coordination mechanisms.
“There should be no American taxpayer dollars contributing to this scheme,” the lawmakers wrote.
