Agriculture Minister Avi Dichter expressed cautious optimism about the outcome of last week’s attempted elimination of Hamas leaders in Doha in an interview on Kan’s Reshet Bet on Sunday morning.

Dichter’s comments come less than 24 hours after Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu hinted at the operation’s failure.

“The fact that days have passed since the attack and there is no information may indicate that perhaps they were hit harder than reported,” Dichter said. “We are all being fed snippets of information, and it is very difficult to know,” he added, referring to reports on Kan News that Khalil al-Hayya and other senior Hamas officials survived the attack.

Dichter also addressed the timing of the attack. “The choice of timing was due to security-political considerations. Qatar is an important country, but over time it is becoming a less and less effective mediator,” he said, adding that the attack came “after half a year of being deceived in negotiations.”

Regarding the concern of the hostages’ families that the strike will harm the negotiations for the release of their loved one, Dichter pointed out that the people “most relevant to any past or future deal” are in Gaza, where they have been attacked by the IDF.

“Yahya Sinwar was the father of the first deal; his brother was the father of the second deal. You fight Hamas with all your might against those responsible for the October 7 massacre.”

Minister Eli Cohen was interviewed by the Saudi Elaph media outlet on Motzei Shabbos and accused Qatar of harming regional stability in the Middle East: “There is a common denominator between the United States, Saudi Arabia, the Emirates, Israel and other countries that are interested in stability and prosperity—but Qatar is a country that is connected to the Muslim Brotherhood. It is not only an enemy of Israel but of the entire moderate Muslim axis.”

Cohen elaborated that Qatar is trying to have its cake and eat it too, as on one hand it maintains close ties to the US because it views Trump as a strong president, and on the other hand it funds elements associated with Iran: “It has funded not only the Revolutionary Guards over the years, but also extremists in various places,” he said.

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)