Hamas vowed Thursday that the Israeli attack targeting its leaders in Doha will not alter the Palestinian group’s terms on ending the war in Gaza, as those killed in the airstrike were buried with senior Qatari and Hamas officials in attendance.
Hamas official Fawzi Barhoum, in a televised speech, said that the attack targeted its negotiation delegation while it was discussing US President Trump’s latest ceasefire proposal.
“This crime was… an assassination of the entire negotiation process,” Barhoum said. “We affirm that the US administration is a full accomplice in this crime.”
In an English-language statement issued immediately after the strike, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu averred that it was “a wholly independent Israeli operation. Israel initiated it, Israel conducted it, and Israel takes full responsibility.” Trump himself has been publicly critical of the strike.
No senior Hamas members have been confirmed killed in the attack.
Hamas identified the dead as Jihad Labad, head of the office of top Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya; Himam al-Hayya, Khalil al-Hayya’s son; and three others described as “associates” — either advisers or bodyguards: Abdallah Abd al-Wahid, Muamen Hassouna and Ahmad Abd al-Malek. In addition, a Qatari security officer, Lance Corporal Badr Saad Mohammed al-Humaidi al-Dosari, was killed.
One coffin bearing a Qatari flag and five others bearing Palestinian flags were brought into the mosque, live footage from Qatar television showed.
While Hamas has asserted that Khalil al-Hayya and its other leaders were not killed in the strike, he and other top officials in the terror group were not spotted at the Doha funeral, despite his son being among those killed.
Barhoum said Thursday in the pre-recorded speech that Israel struck the home of Khalil al-Hayya. His wife, as well as the wife of his son Himam al-Hayya — who was killed — were injured in the strike. Other family members were also wounded, Barhoum said.
The Hamas official said that the failed attempt to assassinate Hamas’s leadership would not change the movement’s positions in the ceasefire negotiations: ending the aggression, a full Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, a “genuine” prisoner and hostage exchange and Gaza’s reconstruction.
Barhoum added that the strike was an attempt by Israel to create a false image of victory, after it failed to achieve gains during 23 months of war.
Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, attended the funeral on Thursday in Doha.
The funeral was for all six people killed in the strike, but the emir was seen comforting the family of the Qatari security officer killed, with a diplomatic source indicating that the Qatari victim was the primary reason for Tamim’s presence.
The interior ministry said the dead would be buried in the Mesaimeer Cemetery after the funeral at Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Wahhab Mosque. Authorities beefed up security, with checkpoints on access roads to the mosque.
Hamas official Osama Hamdan, who is usually based in Lebanon, and another senior member of the terror group, Izzat al-Rishq, who has been residing in Qatar in recent years, were also spotted at the funeral. The two appeared in photos published by Hamas.
Other senior leaders – including top official Khaled Mashaal and Hamas West Bank leader Zaher Jabarin – were not seen in footage shared from the funeral.
Meanwhile, the United Arab Emirates on Thursday condemned Netanyahu’s “hostile remarks” against Qatar, adding that any attack on a Gulf state is an attack on the Gulf’s “joined security system,” UAE official Afra Al Hameli said.
On Wednesday, Netanyahu warned Qatar to either expel Hamas officials or “bring them to justice, because if you don’t, we will.”
A diplomatic adviser to UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan said that his tour of Gulf countries is aimed at coordinating positions after the Israeli strike.
“The President’s Gulf tour reflects a deep conviction in strengthening coordination and cooperation, and in reinforcing the concept of a common destiny,” Anwar Gargash wrote in a post on X.
Doha will host an emergency Arab-Islamic summit next Sunday and Monday to discuss the Israeli attack, Qatar’s state news agency reported earlier on Thursday.