Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

Israel Targets Hamas Leaders in Qatar; U.S. Informed of Qatar Strike. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired September 09, 2025 - 09:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[09:30:00]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: With Hamas. An extraordinary, unprecedented moment with Israel trying to target Hamas officials inside the gulf nation of Qatar.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: And we do continue to cover our breaking -- the breaking news that is unfolding as we speak.

Israel carrying out an attack against Hamas leadership in Qatar. This coming from Israeli sources. You can see in that video right there, smoke is seen. It was just -- that came in just moments ago. You can see smoke rising in the distance in Doha.

A lot of unanswered questions about what exactly -- who exactly was targeted, what exactly is the end result of this attack and what this now means for the very fragile, stalled peace talks that are trying to unfold there between Hamas and Israel?

[09:35:14]

CNN's Jeremy Diamond is in Jerusalem, bringing us the very latest.

Jeremy, what's the latest you're picking up?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kate, we're learning new information about this Israeli strike in the Qatari capital of Doha that targeted Hamas' leadership there at Hamas' headquarters, the Political Bureau of Hamas, in the Qatari capital. We're learning both from Israeli sources, as well as from a senior Hamas source.

I want to tell you first what this senior Hamas source is telling us, that the negotiating delegation, Hamas' negotiating delegation, was targeted they say while discussing the latest U.S. proposal to look for a ceasefire and hostage release deal. That is, of course, the proposal that the United States put on the table just a couple of days ago, looking for Hamas to release all of the Israeli hostages on the first day of such an agreement and then enter into a ceasefire and negotiations to end the war in Gaza altogether. Hamas had not yet officially responded to that proposal.

Israeli officials, meanwhile, are indeed confirming the nature of this strike. The Israeli military put out a statement saying that they carried out this strike in cooperation with the Shin Bet, Israel's internal security service. And we are also learning from one Israeli official that the United States was informed, they say, ahead of the Israeli attack that sought to take out Hamas' leadership.

Among Hamas' leadership who was targeted we understand is Hamas' primary leader and also the primary negotiator of all of these ceasefire and hostage release negotiations. And that is a man by the name of Khalil al-Hayya. If you've heard us talking on CNN throughout the last two years about these start and stop negotiations, you will have heard that name because he was always at the center of these negotiations. I had also been told by a number of sources involved in these talks that they often felt like Khalil al-Hayya was more on the front foot of being willing to go for a ceasefire agreement, sometimes hampered by Hamas leadership inside of the Gaza Strip. But he appears to now have been targeted by this Israeli strike.

What we do not yet know is whether or not this Israeli strike was indeed successful from the Israeli point of view, meaning whether Khalil al-Hayya and the other Hamas leaders who were in this office in the Qatari capital, whether or not they were killed as a result of this strike.

But make no mistake, Kate, the timing of this strike is absolutely extraordinary. The fact, in particular, that it comes as the United States is renewing a diplomatic effort here to try and end this war, a diplomatic effort aimed at securing the release of the hostages.

As we are once again at this new, critical juncture in these negotiations, Israel has now taken steps to take out Hamas' leadership in the Qatari capital. And in this statement from the Israeli military, they make very clear that they are doing this, from their point of view, publicly, at least, because they believe that these leaders, like any other Hamas leader, were ultimately -- should ultimately be held responsible for that October 7, 2023, attack that Hamas led on Israel.

It was in the first days of -- of the war, of the aftermath of that attack, that Israeli officials made clear that they would go after every single Hamas leader who they felt was responsible for that attack. And indeed, over the last two years, we have watched as Israel has begun taking down that list, and now doing so in quite extraordinary fashion and in a way that is going to cause quite an earthquake in terms of the relations between Israel and this region going forward.

BOLDUAN: Jeremy, thank you so much.

There's more information coming in even as you were speaking, Jeremy.

What --

BERMAN: Yes. So -- so, Jeremy talked about the reverberations in the region.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

BERMAN: We're getting our first statement from Qatar, the nation where the Hamas leadership was targeted. A spokesperson for the Qatari foreign minister's office called the attack "cowardly and a criminal assault that constitutes a blatant violation of international laws and norms. While strongly condemning the attack, the state of Qatar emphasizes it will not tolerate this reckless and irresponsible Israeli behavior."

Let's go to Doha right now. CNN producer Andrew Potter is there.

Andrew, I understand you heard the explosion. Describe the scene as best you can.

ANDREW POTTER, CNN PRODUCER (via telephone): Yes, well, that's right. The explosion took place about 50 minutes ago. I was in my hotel room. The windows rattled over a period of about 10 seconds. I thought there were window cleaners on the glass. But it turns out there's been a massive explosion here in Doha.

And as you just -- as you just heard, the Qatari state has been very quick to condemn that explosion. And let's not forget, this is a country with a large U.S. military presence.

[09:40:03]

There's a large U.S. military base just outside Doha. And President Trump was here just a few months ago.

And so now we're seeing this Israeli strike here. We're seeing black smoke on the horizon, in the area just surrounding where the strike has happened. I'm currently en route to the -- to the site of the explosion to see what we can see.

BERMAN: All right, Andrew Potter, we'll let you get to the scene as best you can. Please report back soon. Thank you.

BOLDUAN: Yes, so thankful that Andrew is there. We're going to have much more from the ground in Doha, as well as Jeremy Diamond in Jerusalem.

At the same time, the Israeli Defense Forces, the IDF, has put out a statement on X. I'll read this. "The IDF and ISA conducted a precise strike targeting the senior leadership of Hamas, of the Hamas terrorist organization." It goes on to say, "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. 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 and ISA will continue to operate with determination in order to defeat Hamas terrorist organization."

With that said, so we're getting some more information from the IDF itself. Let's get over to the White House. Kevin Liptak standing by.

Kevin, what are you hearing from there?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, and officials here still very much digesting what is occurring on the ground in Doha. You heard Jeremy Diamond say that according to the Israelis, the U.S. was notified ahead of the strike. And I think that is, in fact, the big question here. We haven't gotten confirmation of that from the White House.

But the reason that's so important is that President Trump is in the middle of quite this high-stakes negotiation to try and bring the war in Gaza to an end. He said as recently as Sunday that he thought this war might be ended soon based on this new proposal that he's put forward that would include the release of all 48 remaining hostages in Gaza in exchange for an end to Israel's campaign to occupy Gaza City.

How this strike affects those potential negotiations, I think, very much unclear at this point. You know, Qatar is a major U.S. ally. It hosts the forward headquarters for CENTCOM at al Udeid Air Base. President Trump was just there in May. The Qataris have spent the last several months really trying to cultivate the Trump administration.

And so, if the U.S. had a heads up here and if they give sort of a tacit green light, how that affects these critical ties between Washington and Doha, I think, will be an important point going forward as we watch how all of this unfolds.

Certainly, President Trump very frustrated that the war in Gaza continues despite his efforts to bring it to an end. There had been some frustration that these mediated efforts that have gone through the Qataris, through the Hamas leadership that's based in Doha, had so far yielded not much in terms of bringing the conflict to an end. The president essentially trying to do his own direct negotiations by trying to put forward this proposal that so far Hamas had not responded to.

Now, we do know that just yesterday Ron Dermer, who is the top associate of the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, was meeting with Steve Witkoff, who's President Trump's foreign envoy, that could potentially be a point of conversation between the two men. At this point we just don't know. As I said, officials still very much digesting what's happening on the ground here.

We will hear from Karoline Leavitt. She's briefing at 1:00 p.m. today. We'll hear from President Trump later this afternoon. Certainly very important, I think, to get their reaction to all of this.

We know that, in the past, President Trump has been caught off guard by some Israeli actions, in particular when it targeted government buildings in the Syrian capital, Damascus. Whether this falls under the same rubric, I think not particularly clear. And, of course, according to the Israelis, the U.S. did get a heads up in all of this.

So, we await confirmation of that from the White House. But obviously, I think something of a turning point here in relations between the U.S. and Qatar, between the U.S. and Hamas as it works to bring this war to an end. How exactly President Trump's new proposal moves forward here, I think, is the big question.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely. And while there's a lot more to learn, and it's very unclear what the exact fallout will be, it seems -- it seems rational to think that something is going to change and something is going to come of this, because it's an extraordinary thing that is playing out here, that Israel has conducted a targeted strike against Hamas, conducted any kind of strike in Qatar, and that is what is playing out right now.

BERMAN: Unprecedented, to say the least, puts strains on the very delicate balance, diplomatic balance.

Much more on the breaking news just ahead. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:49:29]

BERMAN: All right, the breaking news, we're now seeing pictures over Doha, the capital of Qatar, in the gulf. Israel says it carried out an attack on Hamas' leadership there. Hamas, their political leadership has operated in Doha for years. Frankly, out in the open there. You can see the smoke rising. Israel saying it's an attack on the leadership.

I just want to tell you what we just learned from the U.S. embassy in Qatar. Let me read this. It says, "we have seen reports of missile strikes occurring in Doha. The U.S. embassy has instituted a shelter in place order for its facilities. U.S. citizens are advised to shelter in place and monitor the embassy Twitter feed for updates."

[09:50:08]

Let's get right to CNN's Jeremy Diamond in Jerusalem for the latest on what you are hearing on this attack.

Jeremy.

DIAMOND: Well, John, I am learning that there was a name for this operation as well. This was Operation Summit of Fire according to the Israeli military. And make no mistake, this is an attempt to assassinate Hamas' political leadership in Doha, in the Qatari capital. This strike from the Israeli military was heard throughout the Qatari capital. We're already starting to hear from residents who said that they heard the blast, or they heard their windows or their rooms shaking at the moment that this explosion actually took place.

We still don't know what kinds of munitions the Israeli military used, but Israel has indeed confirmed that it carried out this strike in order to try and kill Hamas' political leadership in the Qatari capital. As we've been saying, among those leaders targeted in this strike was Khalil al-Hayya, Hamas' leader, who has also been Hamas' chief negotiator for nearly two years since October 7th, since the beginning of the war in Gaza, following Hamas' attack on Israel. Israeli leaders have made clear at -- from the very onset of this war,

from the very first hours and days after the October 7th massacre, that they were going to target, and ultimately kill, any leader of Hamas who they deemed responsible for that terrible attack on Israel on October 7th. And we have been watching over the last two years as they have been ticking down that list, whether it was Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas' political leader during October 7th and in the first months of the war, whom Israel killed in a Mossad operation in the Iranian capital, whether it is Yahya Sinwar, whom Israeli forces killed inside of the Gaza Strip, or the subsequent leaders who have succeeded them, Israel has gone after every single, both military, but also political official, that they have been able to and that they have decided to.

The question now, John, is why now? Why did Israel choose to carry out this strike at this very moment, especially as you see that over the last few days there has been this renewed effort by the United States to try and push for a ceasefire and hostage release deal, one that the United States hoped would ultimately lead to an end of the war in Gaza and the release of the 48 remaining Israeli hostages still held in the Gaza Strip.

BERMAN: Absolutely, questions about the timing,

Jeremy Diamond, stand by for us. Thank you very much.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely.

Let's bring back in Kim Dozier, who's been working her sources, also have been watching this all play out along with us.

And you see it at the bottom of the screen. We have -- CNN has reporting, according to an Israeli official, Kim, an Israeli official has said that the United States was informed ahead of this Israeli attack in Doha.

Just for everyone out there, just setting the stage also for how significant this is, that this attack is happening -- happening at all, especially right now.

KIM DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: It is unprecedented. We haven't had an open airstrike on a country in the gulf in recent memory, much less a targeted assassination in the center of a modern city in a country that is not at war, hasn't been at war in centuries.

And I just heard from a Qatari official, a senior Qatari official, who is very upset. Qataris are trying to reach out to make sure that their loved ones aren't affected by this. But they said that "Hamas had just received a new proposal from us, which they'd obtained from negotiator Witkoff last week in Paris. The prime minister then met with Hamas yesterday. Hamas decided to meet again today to discuss the proposal. However, as has happened before, the Israelis undermined hopes for peace, further prolonging the war and complementing our efforts to bring back the hostages."

So, that is a view from one Qatari official who's been very closely involved in these negotiations. They had hoped to head off the onslaught of Israeli forces against Gaza City and get out the 48 Israeli hostages remaining, and then move to negotiations.

When you've had all of the top Hamas negotiators, the ones who were more willing to negotiate than Hamas commanders on the ground inside Gaza, that leaves peace talks with nowhere to go.

BERMAN: Kim, we've got about 30 seconds left. Israel basically putting out a statement saying, yes, we did this. I mean, what do you make of not just the fact of the attempt, but the fact that they want everyone to know.

[09:54:58]

DOZIER: I think it shows that the Netanyahu administration feels fully supported by this White House in its actions, and that Netanyahu's offer to consider these last minute negotiations, which surprised a lot of people, may have just been a cover or a way to say to allies, look, we really did give them one last chance. A Hamas spokesman said yesterday that the deal that they were being offered, he said publicly, amounted to a humiliating surrender. And so today we have Israel's response.

BOLDUAN: Kim, thank you so much for -- for helping us with this breaking news.

And it does continue to unfold. We have people all throughout the region. We have our producer on the ground in Doha going to the scene. Jeremy Diamond bringing us all the breaking news out of Jerusalem.

Much more on this breaking news with "THE SITUATION ROOM," up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)