Israel launched an airstrike against the leaders of arch foe Hamas in Qatar on Tuesday, escalating its military action in the Middle East with what the White House described as a unilateral attack that does not advance American and Israeli interests.

White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said hitting Hamas was a worthy goal, but the United States felt badly that the attack took place in the Gulf Arab state, which is a major non-NATO ally of Washington and where the Palestinian Islamist group has long had its political base.

The attack, which drew condemnation from key regional countries such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, risks derailing Gaza ceasefire talks and President Donald Trump's push to achieve a negotiated end to the nearly two-year-old conflict between Israel and Hamas.

Qatar is a key security partner of the United States and host to al-Udeid Air Base, the largest U.S. military facility in the Middle East. It has acted as a mediator alongside Egypt in talks on a ceasefire in Gaza, which is becoming increasingly elusive.

Hamas said five of its members had been killed in the attack, including the son of Hamas's exiled Gaza chief and top negotiator Khalil al-Hayya. It said Israel had failed in what Hamas called an attempt to assassinate the group's ceasefire negotiation team.

The U.S. administration got warning of the attack "just before" it took place, Leavitt said, and that came from the U.S. military. She declined to answer if it was Israel who notified the U.S. military or not.

"Unilaterally bombing inside Qatar - a sovereign nation and close ally of the United States that is working very hard in bravely taking risks with us to broker peace - does not advance Israel or America's goals," Leavitt said. "However, eliminating Hamas, who have profited off the misery of those living in Gaza, is a worthy goal."

Hamas political bureau member Suhail al-Hindi told Al Jazeera TV the group's top leadership had survived the Israeli attack. The airstrike followed an evacuation order in Gaza City, where Israel is waging an offensive to try to destroy what is left of the group that has been decimated by Israel's military since October 2023.

Leavitt said Trump directed a top aide, Steve Witkoff, to warn Qatar the attack was coming but Doha contradicted her comments, saying that reports that it got a heads-up before the attack were false and the phone call from a U.S. official came when blasts were already being heard in the Qatari capital.

In a phone call with the emir of Qatar after the attack, Trump assured the emir "such a thing will not happen again on their soil." Trump also spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Leavitt said.

Israeli officials told Reuters the strike was aimed at top Hamas leaders including Hayya. Israel is still gathering information on the strike and is yet to determine whether any Hamas officials or leaders were killed, a source briefed on the matter told Reuters.

Two U.S. officials, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said the U.S. military had been notified by Israel shortly before the strike but there was no coordination with or approval from Washington.

Trump made a high-profile visit to Qatar in May and stayed at a hotel about 2 km from Tuesday's attack site.

ATTACK FOLLOWED JERUSALEM KILLINGS

The airstrike took place shortly after Hamas' armed wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, claimed responsibility for a shooting on Monday that killed six people at a bus stop on the outskirts of Jerusalem.

Netanyahu said the attack was "entirely justified" and was ordered after the Jerusalem attack and the loss of four Israeli soldiers in Gaza.

"The days are over when terror leaders can enjoy immunity of any kind ... I won't allow that kind of immunity to exist," Netanyahu said in a televised address.

The Israeli operation drew strong negative reactions around the world.

The European Union called it a breach of international law and Qatar's territorial integrity while the United Arab Emirates, which normalised relations with Israel under the Abraham Accords in 2020, called it "blatant and cowardly".

Regional power Saudi Arabia denounced what it called "brutal Israeli aggression" against Qatar's sovereignty. Egypt said the attack set a dangerous precedent.

Pope Leo expressed unusually forceful concern about the consequences of Israel's strike in Qatar.

"The entire situation is very serious," he said.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the attack and said Qatar had been playing a very positive role in seeking a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages held by Hamas.

Here are some of the top Hamas figures killed by Israel and those who remain alive almost two years since the start of the Gaza war, which began when the group attacked communities in southern Israel on October 7, 2023:

DEAD

MOHAMMAD SINWAR

Mohammad Sinwar was a veteran Hamas commander and its overall military chief in Gaza at the time Israel said it killed him in May.

Sinwar had been elevated to Hamas' top ranks after Israel killed his older brother, Yahya Sinwar, a mastermind of the October 7 attacks, in 2024.

YAHYA SINWAR

The Israeli military killed Yahya Sinwar in Gaza in October, 2024, just over a year after the October 7 attacks he helped to plan. Sinwar had been Israel's most wanted enemy at the time, and was widely assumed to be running the war in Gaza. He became Hamas chief after the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, in Iran in July 2024.

ISMAIL HANIYEH

Haniyeh was assassinated in July 2024 during a visit to Tehran. He had been Hamas leader since 2017. Iran's Revolutionary Guards said he was killed by a short-range projectile. The New York Times, citing unnamed sources, reported that the explosion which killed him was a bomb that was covertly smuggled into the guesthouse where he was staying. Israel's defence minister confirmed in December it had killed him.

MOHAMMED DEIF

Israel's military said Deif, commander of Hamas' military wing, was killed after fighter jets struck in the area of Khan Younis in July 2024. Deif, who had survived seven Israeli assassination attempts, was believed to have been another October 7 mastermind.

MARWAN ISSA

Deputy Hamas military commander Marwan Issa was killed in an Israeli strike in March 2024, the Israeli military said. He had been at the top of Israel's most-wanted list alongside Deif and Sinwar.

SALEH AL-AROURI

Deputy Hamas chief Saleh al-Arouri was killed by an Israeli drone strike on Beirut's southern suburbs in January 2024. He was a founder of Hamas' military wing, the Qassam Brigades.

ALIVE

IZZ AL-DIN AL-HADDAD

Haddad became the most senior Hamas military leader in the Gaza Strip after Mohammad Sinwar's death. Israel believes he is one of the masterminds of October 7, and has identified him among its most wanted. He is believed to be based in northern Gaza, the focal point of a new Israeli offensive.

KHALIL AL-HAYYA

Based in Qatar, Hayya has been widely seen as Hamas' most influential figure abroad since Haniyeh's death. He is part of a five-man leadership council that has led Hamas since Yahya Sinwar's death. Hailing from the Gaza Strip, he has lost several close relatives - including his eldest son - to Israeli strikes.

KHALED MESHAAL

One of Hamas' most recognisable politicians Meshaal, 68, led the group between 2004 and 2017. He became known around the world in 1997 when Israeli agents injected him with poison in Jordan in a botched assassination attempt. He is now based in Qatar, serving on the five-man leadership council.

MOHAMMAD DARWISH

Also based in Qatar, Mohammad Darwish was a little known figure until the Haniyeh assassination, since when he has risen to prominence. He is believed to be the chairman of the Hamas Shoura Council, the highest decision-making body. He is nominally the head of the five-man leadership council.

NIZAR AWADALLAH

Nizar Awadallah, a veteran Hamas leader, was a confidant of the group's co-founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, and has taken several key posts within the group including in its armed wing.

Hamas sources said Awadallah led Hamas in Gaza in 2006 in the wake of the group's victory in a parliamentary election. He has made no public appearance or comments since the October 7 attacks, and is believed to have left Gaza before the war began.

ZAHER JABBARIN

Jabbarin is the head of Hamas in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, a role he performs from Qatar. He is the fifth member of the leadership council. He is in charge of the portfolio of Palestinian prisoners and part of the negotiating team.

Israel arrested him in 1993 and he was sentenced to life, before he was freed in 2011 as part of a Hamas-Israel swap deal under which Israel released over 1,000 Palestinians in return for Gilad Shalit, a soldier Hamas captured in 2006.

Born in 1968 in Salfit in the West Bank, he co-founded the first cells of the Hamas armed wing in the West Bank in 1991.