Two senior Hamas officials were wounded in Israel’s unprecedented airstrike on the group’s political headquarters in Qatar, according to a report published Thursday by the Saudi daily Asharq Al-Awsat.

The newspaper, citing regional sources, said both men were members of Hamas’s political bureau — the organization’s top decision-making body — and are now hospitalized in a private Qatari hospital under tight security. One of the officials was described as being in serious condition.

The revelations, if confirmed, would mark the most direct hit yet to Hamas’s leadership since Israel expanded its war against the group beyond Gaza’s borders.

The report detailed how Israel’s strike pummeled a section of the Hamas headquarters in Doha, with four bombs concentrated on the office of Khalil al-Hayya, Hamas’s leader in Gaza and its chief negotiator in ongoing ceasefire talks.

According to Asharq Al-Awsat, Hamas officials had gathered in the former office of Ismail Haniyeh, the longtime Hamas political chief assassinated by Israel in Tehran in 2024. One of the bombs landed inside Haniyeh’s office itself. Officials seated in a corner of the room survived but suffered injuries from the blast.

The account suggests that a combination of Israeli precision and Hamas countermeasures may explain why the strike did not decapitate the group’s leadership entirely. The paper reported that Israel relied on phone geolocation to target the meeting. But Hamas officials, aware of the risk, have adopted the practice of leaving their phones outside during high-level gatherings — either with advisers or in their offices — making real-time tracking unreliable.

Israel has not confirmed the identities of those wounded, but Defense Minister Yisrael Katz said Wednesday’s strike dealt “a painful blow” to Hamas’s senior ranks. “We promised to pursue Hamas leadership wherever it hides — in Gaza, Tehran, Beirut or Doha. That is exactly what we are doing,” Katz said.

Still, the survival of key figures highlights the challenge Israel faces in eliminating Hamas’s top tier. The group has proven resilient in dispersing its leadership and adapting to Israeli surveillance tactics.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)