Israel attempted to kill senior members of Hamas in an airstrike in Qatar. This led to a sharp escalation that brought the Mideast into the brink of yet another war. This was the first time that Israel struck a close American ally and more importantly one of the primary mediators who is involved in negotiations between Israel and Hamas to end the conflict in Gaza. Qatar’s prime minister criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the country’s assasination attempt to target senior Hamas leaders while they were attending a meeting over a ceasefire discussion, calling Tel Aviv’s act as “barbaric.” n18oc_world n18oc_crux