At least 35 people, including seven aid seekers, have been killed by Israeli forces across the Gaza Strip, medical sources say.
A senior Hamas source has told Al Jazeera that leaders of the group have been targeted in Doha while was discussing US President Donald Trump’s proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza.
A Hamas official told Qatar's Al Jazeera that its top negotiator's son was among several people killed in Israeli strikes on Doha on Tuesday but that senior leaders survived.
"The Hamas leadership survived the cowardly assassination attempt," Hamas political official Suhail al-Hindi told the broadcaster, adding that negotiator Khalil al-Hayya's son and aide were among the dead.
Khalil Al-Hayya, a senior Hamas official targeted by Israel in Qatar on Tuesday, has become an increasingly central figure in the leadership of the Palestinian group since both Ismail Haniyeh and Yahya Sinwar were killed last year.
Israeli officials told Reuters the attack was aimed at top Hamas leaders, including Hayya, its exiled Gaza chief and top negotiator. Two Hamas sources told Reuters the group’s ceasefire negotiation delegation in Doha survived the attack. At the heart of ceasefire negotiations during the fighting that erupted two years ago, Hayya has been widely seen as the group’s most influential figure abroad since Haniyeh was killed by Israel in Iran in July 2024. He is part of a five-man leadership council that has led Hamas since Sinwar was killed by Israel last October in Gaza.
Israel's military said it conducted a strike targeting senior Hamas leaders on Tuesday, as Qatar condemned an attack on buildings housing members of the Palestinian militant movement in the capital.
Qatar said Israeli strikes targeted the homes of several members of Hamas's political bureau residing in the Gulf country, where the militant group's senior leadership is based. A Hamas official in Gaza told AFP the group's negotiators had been "targeted" in Doha.
A video journalist working with AFP in Doha saw a plume of smoke rising from behind a low-rise building. "For years, these members of the Hamas leadership have led the terrorist organisation's operations, are directly responsible for the brutal October 7 (2023) massacre, and have been orchestrating and managing the war against the State of Israel," the Israeli military said in a statement.
Qatar condemned the attack, saying it had targeted residential buildings housing Hamas political bureau members. "The State of Qatar strongly condemns the cowardly Israeli attack that targeted residential buildings housing several members of the political bureau of Hamas in the Qatari capital, Doha," foreign ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari said in a post on X. Tuesday's strikes come less than two weeks after Israel's armed forces chief vowed to targed the group's leaders based abroad. "Most of Hamas's leadership is abroad, and we will reach them as well," Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir said on August 31.
Along with the United States and Egypt, Qatar has led multiple rounds of efforts to end the Israel-Hamas war, which was sparked by the Palestinian militants' unprecedented October 7, 2023 attack. Despite sealing two temporary truces, the successive rounds of talks have failed to bring a lasting end to the war. "May all your enemies perish, Israel," Israeli Culture Minister Miki Zohar wrote on X on Tuesday. "U.S. citizens are advised to shelter-in-place and monitor @USEmbassyDoha social media for updates," the US embassy posted on X.
Iran, a key backer of Hamas, condemned the attack as a "gross violation of all international rules and regulations, a violation of Qatar's national sovereignty and territorial integrity, and an attack on Palestinian negotiators". The attack came as Israel stepped up a deadly assault on Gaza City, the Palestinian territory's largest urban centre. On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a video statement addressing residents of the city: "I say to the residents: you have been warned, leave now!
"All of this is just a prelude, just the opening, to the main intensified operation -- the ground manoeuvre of our forces, who are now organising and assembling to enter Gaza City," he said.
Aljazeera TV said Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has threatened what he’s calling an intense ground operation in Gaza City, warning Palestinians in the northern urban centre to leave.
Hamas has condemned Netanyahu’s threats and denounced the ongoing destruction of Gaza City’s high-rises, including the as-Salam tower, as “one of the most heinous images of sadism and criminality”. Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 64,605 people and wounded 163,319 since October 2023. Thousands more are believed to be under the rubble. A total of 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the October 7 attacks, and about 200 were taken captive.
The Israeli military said it targeted senior Hamas leaders on Tuesday, after AFP journalists in Doha reported explosions and smoke rising above the Qatari capital, where the Palestinian group’s political bureau is based.
“The IDF (Israeli military) and ISA (security agency) conducted a precise strike targeting the senior leadership of the Hamas terrorist organisation,” the military said, without specifying where the strike took place.
Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari slammed the attack, saying: “The State of Qatar strongly condemns the cowardly Israeli attack that targeted residential buildings housing several members of the Political Bureau of Hamas in the Qatari capital, Doha. This criminal assault constitutes a blatant violation of all international laws and norms, and poses a serious threat to the security and safety of Qataris and residents in Qatar.”
He said the security forces, civil defence and relevant authorities immediately began addressing the incident and taking necessary measures to contain its repercussions and ensure the safety of the residents and surrounding areas.
“While the State of Qatar strongly condemns this assault, it confirms that it will not tolerate this reckless Israeli behaviour and the ongoing disruption of regional security, nor any act that targets its security and sovereignty. Investigations are underway at the highest level, and further details will be announced as soon as they are available,” the spokesperson said.
A senior Hamas source told Al Jazeera that leaders of the group were targeted while discussing United States President Donald Trump’s proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Israel media, citing a senior Israeli official, said the attack was aimed at top Hamas leaders, including Khalil al-Hayya, its Gaza chief.
Smoke was seen rising over the Katara District in the capital, an eyewitness said.
Plumes of black smoke were billowing from the city’s Legtifya petrol station. Right next door to the petrol station is a small residential compound that has been guarded by Qatar’s emiri guard 24 hours a day since the beginning of the Gaza conflict.