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Mossad reportedly refused to carry out ground operation in Qatar against Hamas
Israel instead bombed Hamas officials using ballistic missiles
September 14, 2025 09:35
Israel instead bombed Hamas officials using ballistic missiles
September 14, 2025 09:35Mossad refused to carry out a ground operation to target senior Hamas leaders in Qatar this week, leading Israel to instead carry out targeted airstrikes, according to a report in the Washington Post.
The decision was reportedly driven by concerns that such an operation could derail sensitive hostage-ceasefire talks and damage the agency’s ties with Doha, a key regional mediator. According to the post, Mossad head David Barnea expressed reservations about derailing the possibility of further hsotage talks in Doha.
The operation against several senior Hamas leaders who were gathering in Doha on Tuesday instead involved airstrikes, which Israel’s security establishment now increasingly believes failed in its objective to kill the terror group’s top leadership.
That assessment was reinforced on Friday when Hamas claimed one of its Doha-based senior leaders, Khalil al-Hayya, performed funeral rites for his son Hammam, who was killed in the Israeli airstrike earlier in the week – dispelling initial speculation that al-Hayya himself had been killed.
The decision to launch the strike and its apparent failure has triggered widespread criticism within Israel’s defence establishment. According to Israel’s Channel 12, several high-ranking officials, including Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, National security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi, and Mossad Director David Barnea, opposed the timing and method of the operation.
The Mossad – which handles clandestine operations abroad – had designed plans for a ground invasion to assassinate the Hamas leaders, according to reports, but it was assessed that carrying it out would harm the agency’s relationship with Doha, according to the Wall Street Journal report.
“The position was clear – there is a deal for the return of the hostages on the table, and the negotiations should be exhausted,” a senior official involved in the hostage-ceasefire talks told Channel 12. “Everyone understood the consequences for the hostages and that an operation like this at the current time could harm this possibility.”
It was reported that Israeli general Nitzan Alon, who was appointed commander of the intelligence unit for abducted and missing persons following October 7 and now heads the hostage negotiations, was not invited to discussions surrounding the operation under the assumption he would object to any action that could endanger the hostages.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz were among those who allegedly supported the plan.
Mossad is believed to have led high-profile foreign operations since the start of the war – including the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, spearheading the exploding pager operation against Hezbollah operatives, and Israel’s retaliatory strike on Iran earlier this year – so it’s withdrawal from this latest operation is notable and highlights the complex diplomatic terrain surrounding Qatar’s involvement in the conflict.
A separate report by the Wall Street Journal also revealed operational details about the strike, which relied on warplanes firing long range ballistic missiles from over the Red Sea, avoiding Arab airspace and limiting the opportunity for the United States to object.
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