Hamas says 5 of its members killed, including son of top leader, in Israeli attack in Qatar

Israel launched a fatal strike targeting Hamas leaders in Qatar on Tuesday as they considered a U.S. proposal for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. The strike on the territory of a U.S. ally m

arked a stunning escalation and risked upending talks aimed at winding down the war and freeing hostages.

Hamas said that five of its members had been killed in the attack, including the son of Hamas's exiled Gaza chief Khalil al-Hayya.

But it said Israel had failed in what it called an attempt to assassinate the group's ceasefire negotiation team.

Earlier, Hamas political bureau member Suhail al-Hindi told Al Jazeera TV that the group's top leadership had survived the Israeli attack.

Qatar, an energy-rich U.S. ally hosting thousands of American troops, has served as a key mediator between Israel and Hamas for several years, even before the war. It condemned what it referred to as a "flagrant violation of all international laws and norms" as smoke rose over its capital, Doha.

Hamas has survived numerous assassinations of top leaders and is still intact in Gaza, despite having suffered major blows since the outbreak of the war in October 2023.

The future of the long-stalled ceasefire talks was more uncertain as Israel gears up for a major offensive aimed at taking over Gaza City. That escalation has been met with heavy international condemnation and opposition within Israel from those who fear it will doom the remaining hostages.

UN Secretary General António Guterres, who was set to speak about the risks of increased military spending on Tuesday, spoke briefly about the Israeli strike on a site in Doha, condemning the attack and again urging all parties to work toward a ceasefire in the conflict between Israel and Hamas.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres condemned the strikes on Tuesday, saying they were a violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Qatar.

"All parties must work towards achieving a permanent ceasefire, not destroying it," Guterres told reporters. 

Israel has long threatened to strike Hamas leaders wherever they are. While it has often welcomed Qatar's role as a mediator, alongside Egypt, it has also accused the Gulf nation of not putting enough pressure on the group.

In contrast to previous Israeli operations against senior militants abroad, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was quick to publicly claim the strike, saying: "Israel initiated it, Israel conducted it and Israel takes full responsibility."

• Israel airdrops leaflets ordering Gaza City evacuation, triggering panic among residents

• Netanyahu warns Gaza City residents to leave now ahead of Israeli ground 'manoeuvre'

He said the decision was taken Monday after a shooting attack in Jerusalem that killed six people and an attack on Israeli forces in Gaza that killed four soldiers. 

The military said it used "precise munitions and additional intelligence" in the strike, without elaborating. 

Qatar condemned what it referred to as a "cowardly Israeli attack" on Hamas' political headquarters in Doha. Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari said Qatar "will not tolerate this reckless Israeli behavior."

The U.S. Embassy in Qatar said that it had instituted a shelter-in-place order for its facilities before lifting it shortly after.

Ceasefire negotiations in question

Earlier this week, U.S. President Donald Trump said he was giving his "last warning" to Hamas regarding a possible ceasefire, as the U.S. advanced a new proposal that Arab officials said included the immediate release of all the hostages.

A senior Hamas official called it a "humiliating surrender document," but the militant group said it would discuss the proposal and respond within days.

An Egyptian official said the strike came when a meeting by Hamas officials over the talks had been scheduled for the site. The official spoke on condition of anonymity, because he wasn't authorized to talk to reporters.

The proposal, presented by Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, calls for a negotiated end of the war and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza once the hostages are released and a ceasefire is established. That's according to Egyptian and Hamas officials familiar with the talks, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the closed-door discussions.

Frank Lowenstein, former U.S. Special Envoy for Middle East Peace, says Israel's move Tuesday signals a clear message.

"When you start killing negotiators inside of Qatar, you're essentially saying not only are these negotiations dead, but the main intermediary probably won't be playing a meaningful role going forward," Lowenstein told CBC News Network.

• Shooting attack at Jerusalem bus stop kills 6 people

• Israeli army says it controls 40% of Gaza City as it pushes more Palestinians out of homes

Hamas has said it will only release the remaining 48 hostages, around 20 of whom are believed to be alive, in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, a lasting ceasefire and a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. Netanyahu has rejected those terms, saying the war will continue until all the hostages are returned and Hamas has been disarmed, with Israel maintaining open-ended security control over Gaza.

Mediators had previously focused on brokering a temporary ceasefire and the release of some hostages, with the two sides then holding talks on a more permanent truce. Witkoff walked away from those talks in July, after which Hamas accepted a proposal that the mediators said was almost identical to an earlier one Israel had approved.

International outrage

The war in Gaza has already left Israel increasingly isolated internationally, with even many of its Western allies calling for it to end the war and do more to address the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, parts of which are experiencing famine.

Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the United Arab Emirates' foreign minister, expressed "full solidarity with our dear Qatar" shortly after the attack. 

CCTV footage, which was posted to social media and verified by Reuters, shows the immediate aftermath of an Israeli strike on a building in Doha, Qatar, with flames and a billowing black cloud of smoke.

The United Arab Emirates recently warned Israel that any move to annex the occupied West Bank would threatened the Abraham Accords, a landmark agreement brokered by Trump during his first term in which the two nations normalized relations.

Trump hopes to expand those accords to include regional heavyweight Saudi Arabia, but those prospects have dimmed as the war has ground on.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman described the strike as a "criminal act and a flagrant violation of international law" in a phone call with Qatar's ruler.