If Israel did not kill Hamas leaders in an air strike on Qatar it would succeed next time, the Israeli ambassador to the United States says after the operation, amid concerns it will torpedo efforts to secure a ceasefire in Gaza.

"Right now, we may be subject to a little bit of criticism. They'll get over it. And Israel is being changed for the better," Yechiel Leiter told Fox News late on Tuesday.

"The region is being changed for the better as we remove these enemies of peace and these enemies of Western civilisation from their ability to implement terrorism."

Israel attempted to kill the political leaders of Hamas with the attack in the Qatari capital Doha on Tuesday, escalating its military action in the Middle East in what the US described as a unilateral attack that does not advanc

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