Doha, Qatar – Six coffins – 5 of them draped in Palestinian flags, one in a Qatari flag – have been laid earlier than the a whole bunch gathered for funeral prayers at Doha’s Imam Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab Mosque.
Sitting within the entrance row of the congregation on Thursday was Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. He was there to honour these killed in an Israeli attack this week that has shaken Qatar.
Really useful Tales
listing of 4 objectsfinish of listing
Amongst these killed was Lance-Corporal Badr Saad Mohammed al-Humaidi al-Dosari, a 22-year-old member of the Inside Safety Forces. Within the crowd after the prayers, the emir comforted a younger boy with tears rolling down his cheeks.
The sombre feeling on the funeral adopted the shock of Tuesday’s assault, which focused Hamas leaders as they have been discussing a Gaza ceasefire proposal introduced by america. The leaders survived the attack.
Disbelief
The assault happened on Tuesday afternoon within the metropolis’s West Bay Lagoon space. A number of blasts rang out throughout Doha, sending up a thick plume of smoke and uniting its residents in equal elements shock and horror. Although the character of the incident was rapidly obvious, Doha’s repute for security solid a shadow of doubt over whether or not it actually may have been attacked.
Since gaining independence in 1971, the nation has confronted no conflicts which have escalated into direct army motion on its territory. When Iran carried out its strike earlier this 12 months, Qatar was extra of a circumstantial participant – its function formed largely by the presence of a significant US army base.
Mohammed Asim, 40, who moved to Doha from Bangladesh along with his spouse and two kids and works within the wholesale meals commerce, lives a few kilometre from the constructing that was hit and stated he had by no means believed such a factor may occur within the metropolis.
“I assumed a home was being demolished, because the sounds of the explosions, which got here one after the opposite, jogged my memory of that,” he advised Al Jazeera. “It wasn’t till I noticed the information that I realised.”
‘Lord, make this land safe’
About 45 minutes after the strike, I arrived with my colleague, photojournalist Showkat Shafi, within the Diplomatic Space in West Bay close to Doha’s coast, simply as particulars have been starting to achieve newsrooms worldwide. We parked the automobile a number of blocks down from the location and walked about 500 metres till we arrived close to the location. Earlier than us stood a big crimson-walled compound, its facade torn open, ashen particles spilling via the large gate, with wisps of smoke nonetheless curling from the courtyard the place one other strike had hit.
Two drones, one fibre optic and the opposite distant, hovered above the compound for hours, offering gentle after nightfall, as emergency providers dug via the rubble.
All entrances to the streets close to the compound have been cordoned off. Beside us have been members of varied branches of Qatar’s safety providers, civil defence groups and a number of other ambulances on standby. Because the evening drew on, the police presence thinned, with households in close by homes often glancing out of their home windows on the safety forces and their evident crimson and blue siren lights.
The constructing, located in a residential space with three faculties close by, housed members of Hamas’s political bureau.
Qatar has promised to behave in coordination with regional allies. Within the days that adopted the assault, regional leaders, crown princes, prime ministers, and ministers have visited Doha in a present of unity and solidarity, essentially the most distinguished amongst them the United Arab Emirates president, Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and Pakistan’s chief, Shehbaz Sharif.
Even US President Donald Trump joined the refrain of solidarity with Qatar, saying that such an assault wouldn’t occur once more, even when he did add that “eliminating” Hamas was a “worthy aim”.
However is that sufficient to reassure Qatar and its individuals?
Trump’s phrases haven’t offered a lot reassurance to Doha’s inhabitants, whose as soon as peaceable abode is now caught immediately within the crosshairs of Israel’s wars within the area, turning into considered one of six countries that Israel has attacked simply this week.
Billboards carried quick messages to assist calm nerves. At West Bay’s Metropolis Centre Mall, considered one of Doha’s hottest malls, the Prophet Abraham’s well-known prayer – “Our Lord, make this land safe” – was emblazoned on its partitions.
I requested a resident of the town, who solely provided his first identify, how he felt about Trump’s assertion that such an assault wouldn’t occur once more. “Israel behaves nevertheless it needs, and after a little bit of harsh language, issues return to earlier than,” Mohammed stated, including, “We’ll see what Trump really does.”
