The Washington Post reveals a plan for a ground operation targeting Hamas in Qatar.

A newspaper reported that "the Israeli Mossad planned a ground operation targeting Hamas leaders but refused to carry it out, forcing Israel to conduct a failed airstrike in Qatar," according to Israeli sources.

The newspaper quoted sources saying that "the Mossad's refusal to conduct a ground operation against Hamas leaders pushed Israel to carry out the airstrike."

The sources explained that "David Barnea objected to the operation for fear it would harm the relationship between the Mossad and the Qataris."

The newspaper also noted the objections of Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir regarding the timing of the attack, in addition to the fact that Major General Nitzan Alon was not invited to discussions approving the attack plan.

The newspaper continued that "the name of the Mossad was not mentioned in the official statements announcing the attack in Qatar, but the attack was described as being carried out by the Israeli occupation army and the Shin Bet."

The newspaper also claimed that "the reason for this is the intelligence agency's refusal to implement a plan developed in recent weeks to use field agents to assassinate Hamas leaders."

An Israeli source told the newspaper, "We can get them in a year, two years, or four years, and the Mossad knows how to do that. So why do it now?"

A source familiar with the details indicated that "this time the Mossad was not prepared to carry out the operation on the ground," adding that the agency viewed Qatar as an important mediator in talks with Hamas.

The American newspaper report quoted David Makovsky, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute, saying: "Barnea was known to be someone who believes that Qatari mediation has value, and you cannot burn the Qatari mediators or the mediation channel."

According to the report, in addition to Barnea, Chief of Staff Major General Eyal Zamir, who urged Netanyahu to accept a ceasefire agreement, opposed the timing of the attack for fear of harming negotiations, while Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer and Minister of Defense Israel Katz approved the step.

It was mentioned that Major General Nitzan Alon was not invited to the relevant discussion because senior leaders assumed he would express his opposition to an attack that could endanger the lives of hostages.

The report quoted Israeli sources saying that "the assumption is that Israel will be able to restore relations with Qatar over time, similar to how it overcame the international outrage it caused in the 1970s and 1980s after Prime Minister Golda Meir ordered a series of assassinations in European and Middle Eastern countries following the Munich Olympics operation in 1972."