The Middle East remains a theater of conflict where airpower often supplants dialogue. On September 9, 2025, Israel underscored its aerial dominance when its F-15s and F-35s streaked 2,000 km across the seas to strike a Hamas gathering in Doha’s plush diplomatic quarter. The attack demolished a residential block, killing several low-ranking operatives, including the son
of deputy Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya, though the senior leadership survived. Yet, the strike’s broader lesson transcended tactical outcomes. Though it did not eliminate Hamas’s leadership, it served as a geostrategic statement of deterrence — against Qatar, any enabler of extremists, and, indirectly, nations such as Pakistan, which have allegedly supp orted similar groups under state patronage.
Qatar’s miscalculation and Indian concerns
Qatar, which has hosted Hamas leaders for years while claiming to mediate, suddenly found itself in Israel’s crosshairs. Its vehement condemnations of “state terrorism” at the UN did little to mask its embarrassment. For New Delhi, this evokes uncomfortable memories of Qatar’s high-handedness during the 2022 detention of eight Indian Navy veterans on baseless espionage charges. Despite backchannel assurances, Doha prolonged the crisis for 18 months, demonstrating its readiness to assert its perceived diplomatic influence against India.
Israel’s strike serves as a reminder: hosting or protecting groups like Hamas, or pressuring major regional powers carry risks when those with superior air dominance enforce their own rules of engagement.
Pakistan and Türkiye: A familiar collusion
For India, the implications are sharper when viewed through the prism of Pakistan’s persistent support for militancy. Islamabad, with its chequered history of nurturing anti-India groups, should note that Israel can—and will—penetrate safe havens far from its borders.
More worrying is the established collusion between Pakistan and Türkiye, evident in the military coordination during Operation Sindoor. Ankara’s frequent grandstanding against Israel, paired with its covert collaboration with Islamabad and NATO membership, highlights the potential for this partnership to complicate India’s strategic environment. Any precedent of Israeli-style punitive airpower should serve as a warning to Pakistan and Türkiye alike: no
location offers immunity when an adversary can project overwhelming air power.
Airpower for dominance: The Israeli model
This episode underscores a truth India cannot ignore. Israel, a country smaller than Manipur and half the size of Haryana, exerts disproportionate influence because it commands the skies. Advanced fighters, network-centric warfare, accurate intelligence, precision munitions, long-range strike capacity, and layered missile defence transform Israel from a vulnerable state into
the region’s dominant power.
No other military force, however potent in parade-ground assessments, can deliver this kind of deterrence. An aircraft carrier group, however impressive, cannot match the theatre-spanning reach of a long-range fighter armada. Israel has shown that airpower is not merely a component of war; it is the centre of gravity in modern conflict.
Strategic lessons for New Delhi
For India’s leadership, the message is clear. To deter regional adversaries and maintain escalation dominance, New Delhi must prioritise:
• Expanding its fighter capabilities, developing the Tejas Mk 2, AMCA, and an
indigenous jet engine.
• Strengthening long-range strike aircraft, air support capabilities, and long-range stealthy precision-weapon stockpiles.
• Integrating space-based surveillance with airpower doctrine.
• Developing indigenous missile defence and anti-drone systems, as outlined in Project Sudarshan.
The Doha strike shows that deterrence does not require complete mission success. Even without eliminating Hamas’s leadership, Israel neatly signalled to Qatar, Pakistan, Türkiye, and Iran that no sanctuary is impregnable. It underscored the geopolitical utility of airpower: the ability to both punish and shape diplomatic behaviour thousands of miles away.
For India, encircled by a collusive Sino–Pakistan axis and challenged by Türkiye’s adventurism, the path to regional military dominance lies in precisely this mastery of the skies. When adversaries know that all their safe havens can be reduced to rubble at will, their appetite for adventurism declines sharply.
Airpower, in short, is not just iron and fire; it is deterrence delivered with jet-speed precision. Israel has written the lesson. The question now is whether New Delhi will heed it and act decisively.