Almost exactly a year ago, I interviewed the Hamas leader and chief negotiator Khalil al-Hayya in Doha. I met him in a house not far from the building that Israel attacked on Tuesday afternoon.
From the beginning of the war in Gaza, al-Hayya had been the chief Hamas negotiator, sending and receiving messages to the Israelis and Americans via Qatari and Egyptian intermediaries.
At moments where ceasefires were thought likely, al-Hayya, along with the men who were also targeted this afternoon, were only a short distance from the Israeli and American delegations. When they were attacked, al-Hayya and the other top Hamas leaders were discussing the latest American diplomatic proposals to end the war in Gaza and free the remaining Israeli hostages.
Israel's swift declaration of what it had done immediately fuelled speculation on social media that the latest American proposals were simply a ruse to get the Hamas leadership in one place where they could be targeted.
On 3rd October last year, as Khalil al-Hayya walked into the venue for our meeting in a modest, low-rise villa, I was surprised that he had so little security. We had to give up our phones, and a couple of bodyguards came with him into the house.
Outside plain clothes Qatari police sat smoking in an SUV. That was it. A hundred bodyguards could not have stopped an air strike, but al-Hayya and his people were relaxed and confident.
The point was that Qatar was supposed to be safe, and they felt secure enough to move around relatively openly.
In the last few decades, Qatar has tried to carve itself a position as the Switzerland of the Middle East, a place where even enemies could make deals. The Americans negotiated with the Afghan Taliban in Doha. However, the peace efforts, driven by President Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff, are now in ruins. A senior western diplomat remarked, 'there is no diplomacy.'
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that their enemies will never sleep easy, paying the price for their actions.
The Israeli offensive in Gaza is gathering pace. A few hours before the attack on Doha, the IDF ordered all Palestinians in Gaza City to move south, affecting approximately one million civilians.
Netanyahu's comments urging Palestinians to make peace are juxtaposed against the reality of widespread destruction in Gaza, where the ongoing humanitarian crisis has resulted in countless civilian casualties.
Israel's recent actions and Netanyahu's aggressive stance suggest a dangerous escalation, threatening to undermine any prospects for peace, as the international community grows increasingly wary of the situation.
