World leaders have reacted swiftly to Israeli strikes on Qatar's capital, Doha, targeting senior Hamas officials, Reuters reports. 

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres condemned Israel's strikes as “a flagrant violation of Qatar's sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

He said Qatar was playing a very positive role in efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of all hostages held by Hamas.

“All parties must work to achieve a permanent ceasefire, not undermine it,” Guterres told reporters. Pope Leo XIV, in turn, expressed concern about the consequences of the Israeli strikes on Qatar, according to the ANSA news agency.

“There is really serious news now: Israel's attack on some Hamas leaders in Qatar. The whole situation is very serious,” Leo said near the pope's summer residence in Castel Gandolfo.