Hamas’s military wing claimed responsibility on Tuesday for a bus stop shooting a day earlier in Jerusalem that killed at least six people and wounded several others ahead of Israel’s anticipated offensive in Gaza.

Shortly after the statement of responsibility was issued by the Qassam Brigades, Israel launched surprise strikes against Hamas leaders in Doha, Qatar, where they had been considering a cease-fire proposal.

While almost certainly coincidental, the timing of the two events on Tuesday left little doubt that peace between Israel and Hamas would remain elusive for the foreseeable future. Despite efforts by the United States, Qatar and other countries to mediate a lasting cease-fire to the war, which began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas led the deadliest-ever attack on Israeli soil, talks have persistently stalled out.

The Hamas statement on Tuesday said that operatives for the Qassam Brigades, the group’s armed force, had opened fire at an intersection in Ramot, an area in Jerusalem’s northern outskirts. Israel took Ramot in the Arab-Israeli war of 1967 and later annexed it, but Palestinians and much of the rest of world consider it a settlement in occupied territory.

The statement warned that Israel’s war in Gaza and its occupation of lands in the West Bank would “be met with the steadfastness of the people and the valor of the resistance.” It also said that two of its fighters were killed in the attack, and claimed that it had killed seven people — not six, as Israeli authorities had said.

The shootings at the crowded bus stop on Monday spurred, in part, the decision to launch the targeted strikes in Doha, according to an announcement issued Tuesday evening by the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel. The brazen attack in Qatar, a country that has long served as a negotiation site for Hamas and its adversaries, drew immediate backlash from other Arab countries in the region.