Doha, Qatar – The sight of plumes of smoke in the aftermath of Israeli bombings have become commonplace across the Middle East in recent months – but in the skyline of Qatar’s glitzy capital, it was wholly unprecedented.

Israel’s attack on Doha on Tuesday – the sixth country it has attacked this year – appeared to target the Palestinian group Hamas’s negotiating team, who were speculated at the time to be on the brink of closing a ceasefire deal for Gaza .

Qatar has played host to truce negotiations throughout the nearly two-year conflict, a leading mediator in the process – never a combatant. It is also a US ally, and the home of the US’s largest military base in the Middle East.

Israel ignored red lines to stage its attack in the densely populated area of Qatar’s capital, locate

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