Israel launched a missile strike in Doha, Qatar on Tuesday, targeting senior Hamas leaders. The explosion rocked the city’s Leqtaifiya neighborhood, with smoke rising in the Katara district, a cultural center known for its restaurants and art exhibitions. The main art institutions in Qatar, run by the Katar Museums – including Mathaf: the Arab Modern Art Museum, the Qatar National Museum and the Islamic Art Museum – are some distance from the strike zone.
The strike shocked Qatar, a small Persian Gulf country known for its oil and gas wealth, hosting the 2022 World Cup and its rapidly growing cultural sector.
This cultural popularity was a major boost in May when Art Basel announced it would work with Qatar Sports Investment (QSI) and QC+, a subsidiary of the country’s sovereign wealth fund and a commercial institution of the Qatar Museum. The announcement came a month before the Basel flagship race opened in Switzerland, and he said the inaugural Art Basel Doha will be held at the Doha Design District’s creative hub M7.
Although the Dubai Art and Abu Dhabi Art Fair have been in operation for more than a decade, the arrival of art Basel is considered a new era in the Gulf, the next area for dealers in a difficult global art trade.
Tuesday’s strike now appears to bring risks to this growth (known for Qatar’s economic and political stability in a turbulent region). Weeks after Basel’s artwork was announced, Iran launched a missile strike on the U.S. Udid Air Force Base in Qatar in June. But the strike was a warning to Qatar and the United States in advance that the missiles were intercepted and there was no report. The strike, considered a symbolic revenge on the U.S. attack on Iran’s nuclear facility, is widely regarded as a posture rather than an escalation. Earlier this month, Iran and Qatar announced that they had “completely resolved” the issue.
By contrast, there was no warning from the Israeli strike on Tuesday. While the White House said it had provided advance notice to Qatar, the country’s foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al-Ansari called the claim “founded without foundation.” Hamas said in a statement that no senior leader was killed in the attack, although there were others (including the son of Khalil Hayeya, the group’s chief negotiator).
Now, the obvious question is whether collectors and dealers (even the hint of instability) will still go to Doha, especially if the strike sparks retaliation or escalates into a complete conflict between Israel and Qatar.
“Our team is closely monitoring Doha’s development and keeping in touch with our partners regularly.” Artnews. “We are still fully committed to launching a successful version of Art Basel Qatar artwork in February 2026.”
Qatar has long presided over senior Hamas leadership and played a central role in negotiations between the organization, Israel and the United States, ending the war in Gaza. Since the October 7, 2023 attack, Israel has launched air and ground invasions in Gaza, with numerous ceasefire negotiations in the Qatar capital.
The Katari government has no effort to respond to it. Emir Tamim Bin Hamad reportedly said in a call with President Trump that Qatar will “take all necessary measures to protect its security and protect its sovereignty.” Foreign Ministry spokesman Al-Ansari called the strike a “criminal attack” and “blatantly violated all international laws and norms.”
