- A Hamas spokesman said the attack targeted the group’s negotiating delegation while it was discussing a new ceasefire proposal.
- Qatar is hosting and mediating talks aimed at securing a ceasefire in the war in the Gaza Strip.
DOHA: Israel’s attack on Hamas leaders in Qatar this week will not change the Palestinian group’s terms for ending the war in the Gaza Strip, an official said on Thursday.
Israel attempted to assassinate Hamas political leaders with an airstrike in Doha on Tuesday, in what U.S. officials called a one-sided escalation that did not serve American or Israeli interests.
Hamas accused the United States on Thursday of complicity in Israel’s deadly attack on its negotiators in Qatar, criticizing Israel for trying to derail ceasefire talks in Gaza while Doha buried its dead.
In a televised address, Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said the attack targeted the group’s negotiating delegation, which was discussing a new ceasefire proposal presented by Qatar’s prime minister just a day earlier.
“At the time of the terrorist attack, the negotiating delegation was discussing its response to the proposal,” he said.
“This crime was… an undermining of the entire negotiation process and a deliberate attack on our mediating brothers in Qatar and Egypt,” Barhoum added.
Qatar acted as a mediator and host in negotiations aimed at securing a ceasefire in the war in the Gaza Strip.
Barhoum reiterated Hamas’ key demands: a complete ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, a real exchange of prisoners for hostages, humanitarian aid and the restoration of the enclave.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is pushing for an all-or-nothing deal that would include the immediate release of all hostages and the surrender of Hamas.
Hamas said the attack killed five of its members, including the son of exiled Hamas leader in Gaza and chief negotiator Khalil al-Hayi.
The attack on Doha has drawn condemnation from regional powers including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, as well as the European Union, and threatens to derail US-backed efforts to broker a ceasefire and end the nearly two-year conflict.