White House condemns Doha strike as Israeli ‘optimism’ fades

And White House Karoline Leavitt, told reporters that the administration had not given the green light for the attack, despite reports to the contrary.

She went on: "Unilaterally bombing inside Qatar, a sovereign nation and close ally of the United States,...does not advance Israel or America's goals.

"However, eliminating Hamas, who have profited of the misery of those living in Gaza, is a worthy goal."

Leavitt added that Trump had "immediately directed" his Middle East Envoy, Steve Witkoff, to notify Qatar's government.

The Qataris, though, are claiming that they had no advanced knowledge of the strike and only received confirmation of what was happening after the first explosions were heard.

Doha has subsequently called the attack an act of “state terrorism” and said it reserves the right to retaliate against Israel, though it did not specify in what form such retaliation could come.

Elsewhere, the Wall Street Journal reported that Egyptian and Turkish mediators had told Hamas to tighten the security around such meetings in recent weeks, due to the chance of an Israeli attack.

Meanwhile, officials in Jerusalem are understood to be less optimistic of the success of the strike than they were yesterday.

Reports in the wake of the strike suggested that Khalil al-Hayya, acting co-chair of Hamas’ political bureau, had been eliminated.

Hamas denied that any of its leadership had been killed, though it has previously done so in similar cases, only to confirm casualties weeks, or even months, later.

However, one Israeli official quoted by Channel 12 said: “Right now there’s no indication that the terrorists were killed.

"We continue to hope they were assassinated, but optimism is fading.”

Palestinian media reported that al-Hayya's son, Himam, and Jihad Labad, the director of his office, were among six people killed, as well as a member of the Qatari security services.

And, per Doron Kadosh of Israeli Army Radio, the operation involved 15 fighter jets, which launched around 10 "precision munitions" within seconds of one another. All of the jets returned to base safely.

The strike is understood to have hit minutes after the meeting, which Hamas has claimed was called to discuss the latest ceasefire proposal, had ended.

According to Kadosh, the operation was in the works for several months, but the plans were brought forward after Hamas took a more stubborn approach in hostage negotiations.

There was then a series of weekly planning meetings to ensure all army and intelligence units involved were ready for action on short notice.

Prime Minister Netanyahu apparently gave the final go-ahead in response to the Jerusalem terror attack on Monday, which saw two terrorists kill six and wound more than 20. Hamas subsequently claimed responsibility for that attack shortly before the bombs fell in Doha.