Leading Hamas official makes first comments since Israeli attack in Qatar

A senior Hamas official described the incident and how the officials escaped with little difficulty after the Israeli attack last week on the group’s leadership in the Qatari capital Doha.

The negotiating delegation and some advisers were present at the meeting. We aud loud explosions less than an hour after the Qatari mediators’ proposal, according to Ghazi Hamad, who spoke to Al Jazeera Arabic on Wednesday.

We left the scene right away because we already knew the explosions were Israeli shelling. We’ve previously lived in Gaza and been hit by Israeli shells,” Hamad continued.

In an attempt to assassinate senior Hamas leaders, Israel also killed five Hamas members and a Qatari security official. The people targeted were involved in President Donald Trump’s proposal to end the hostilities and to negotiate a ceasefire.

“The situation was terrifying, the shelling was intense, and the rockets continued unabated.” By God’s will, we managed to survive this aggression despite having approximately 12 rockets in less than a minute.

Trump claimed that the bombardment caused him to be “very unhappy” and that Hamas’ senior leaders were able to survive. He asserted once more on Monday that Israel would stop attacking Qatar in the future.

Leaders of Arab and Islamic countries gathered in Doha for an emergency summit to denounce what they called Israel’s “cowardly” strike in response to the first Israeli attack on Qatar.

However, no tangible measures were promised at the conclusion of the meeting.

Israel’s Middle East plan, according to Hamad, required an Arab response, according to Hamad.

He added that Hamas had a “bitter” experience with the ceasefire negotiations and that the US had lost credibility as a trustworthy broker.

Hamad made a comment about Trump’s threats to Israel’s captives in Gaza that “He]Trump doesn’t scare us.” Hamad added that Israel’s actions were the only ones that put the captives in danger, and that they were treated “according to our values.”

The Gaza Health Ministry reports that more than 65, 000 people have been killed by Israeli forces since October 2023, including some 19 000 children.

A UN investigation revealed on Tuesday that Israel’s occupation of Gaza was a genocide, which Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch were among the major human rights organizations that were involved.