Mossad refused, Netanyahu insisted: Inside Israel’s failed strike on Hamas leaders in Qatar

Doha airstrike, Mossad’s pushback, and Netanyahu’s decision that risks both diplomacy and hostage talks

When Israel announced Tuesday it had struck senior Hamas leaders in Qatar, something was missing: Mossad.

The Washington Post reports that Mossad, Israel’s external spy agency, had drawn up a plan to assassinate Hamas officials on the ground but refused to carry it out. Director David Barnea feared the move would shatter ties with Qatar, a US ally that hosts Hamas leaders and mediates ceasefire talks.

With Mossad out, Israel switched tactics. Fifteen jets fired ten missiles toward Doha. Hamas said its top officials, including acting leader Khalil al-Hayya, survived. Relatives, aides, and even a Qatari officer were killed instead. One Israeli source admitted bluntly: “Israel did not get who they wanted.”

Timing divides Israel’s security chiefs

Inside Israel, the debate was sharp. Barnea argued the timing was wrong. So did Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, the IDF chief of staff, who warned it could derail hostage talks.

But Netanyahu pushed ahead, backed by defense minister Israel Katz and strategic affairs minister Ron Dermer. Notably, Nitzan Alon — the officer leading hostage negotiations, wasn’t even invited to the final meeting. Leaders knew he would object.

An Israeli official told The Washington Post: “We can get them in one, two, or four years from now… Why do it now?”

Netanyahu’s calculus

Netanyahu justified the strike as a rare chance: key Hamas leaders in one place. It also came a day after Hamas gunmen killed six civilians in Jerusalem and an ambush in Gaza killed four Israeli soldiers.

But analysts told The Washington Post Netanyahu may have had other motives. He may have wanted to push past Donald Trump’s ceasefire plan, which was gaining some traction with Hamas. He may also have wanted to signal Gulf states, especially Qatar, that Israel won’t be boxed in by foreign mediation or moves toward Palestinian statehood.

Qatar calls it 'state terrorism'

Qatar reacted furiously, calling the strike 'state terrorism' and a betrayal of the mediation process. At the UN Security Council, Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani vowed: “We will continue our diplomatic role without hesitation to stop the bloodshed… We cannot succumb to extremists.”

Israel’s gamble seems to be that ties with Qatar will eventually heal, just as Mossad weathered outrage over its covert assassinations after the Munich Olympics in the 1970s. But unlike then, this strike came during fragile hostage talks.

Mossad’s quiet role in Qatar

Mossad has long managed Israel’s delicate backchannel with Qatar. Under Barnea’s predecessor Yossi Cohen, the agency even opened an office in Doha as part of Netanyahu’s policy of funnelling Qatari cash into Gaza to maintain stability.

Barnea himself travelled to Doha as recently as August. That makes Mossad’s refusal to carry out the assassination a striking shift — and a clear message that not every Netanyahu order will be obeyed.

As David Makovsky of the Washington Institute told The Washington Post: “Barnea thought the Qatari mediation had value, and you don’t burn the Qatari mediators or the mediation channel.”

What comes next

The Doha strike has left Israel with little to show: Hamas leaders are alive, hostage talks are frozen, and Qatar is angry. Inside Israel, the split between Netanyahu and his security chiefs has widened.

For Netanyahu, the strike may prove a symbolic flex of power. For Mossad, it was a line they weren’t willing to cross.