Ex-US officials believe Hamas leader in Doha, call for military action
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According to the report, US officials believe that the leader of the Hamas political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, oversaw the group's recent operation on "Israel" from Doha.
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In this photo released by the Lebanese government, Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of the Palestinian resistance group Hamas, speaks during a press conference after meeting with Lebanese President Michel Aoun, at the presidential palace, in Baabda, east of Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, June 28, 2021 (Dalati Nohra/Lebanese Official Government via AP)
Two former high-ranking US security officials have called on the use of military force against the Hamas leadership alleged to have found shelter in Doha, should Qatari authorities refuse to extradite them to either the US or "Israel," Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.
According to the report, US officials believe that the leader of the Hamas political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, oversaw the group's recent operation on "Israel" from Doha.
Mark Wallace, a former US representative to the UN and head of the New York-based United Against Nuclear Iran told WSJ that those responsible for orchestrating the attacks "are operating in plain sight and within reach in the hands of our purported major non-NATO ally Qatar."
"We should not hesitate to act militarily on Qatari soil to bring to justice Ismail Haniyeh and Hamas leadership," Wallace said.
Frances Townsend, a former chief counterterrorism adviser to George W. Bush and the NGO leader of the Counter Extremism Project, has also endorsed the appeal for action.
Read more: Lions' Den calls for full-scale confrontation in West Bank
A day after the launch of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood was announced, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Sunday that the US will move a carrier strike group, which includes the USS Gerald R. Ford, closer to the area.
Austin stated in the news release that in addition to Navy assets, he has made efforts to strengthen US Air Force F-35, F-15, F-16, and A-10 fighter aircraft squadrons in the area.
On Tuesday, US defense officials revealed their intention to deploy a second aircraft carrier near occupied Palestine in support of the Israeli occupation.
Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova said that the move increases the risk that things will escalate in the current situation in Palestine.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan likewise voiced his reaction on Tuesday, warning that the US encroaching its carrier strike group closer to "Israel" would constitute "serious massacres" in Gaza.
Read more: As 'Israel' bombs Gaza, US worries about its troops in Middle East
Earlier today, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his political rival Benny Gantz on Wednesday have decided to form an emergency government.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid has not joined this temporary coalition, although the joint statement mentioned that a place would be "reserved" for him in the war cabinet.
Shortly after, Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movements announced on Wednesday that they had initiated missile attacks directed toward "Tel Aviv."
The Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement, additionally claimed responsibility for a missile launch directed at the Israeli occupation entity's capital.
