DOHA, Qatar: Hamas on Thursday accused the United States of complicity in Israel’s deadly strike on its negotiators in Qatar, condemning the attack as an attempt to derail Gaza ceasefire talks, as funerals were held in Doha for those killed.
Tuesday’s unprecedented Israeli strikes on a Gulf state sent shockwaves through a region long shielded from conflicts and halted already floundering Gaza talks.
“This crime was… an assassination of the entire negotiation process and a deliberate targeting of the role of our mediating brothers in Qatar and Egypt,” Hamas official Fawzi Barhoum said in a televised statement.
In Doha, tight security surrounded the mosque where prayers were held as Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani joined mourners.
One coffin bearing a Qatari flag and five others bearing Palestinian flags were brought into the mosque, live footage from Qatar television showed.
Facing the coffins, Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani prayed alongside dozens of mourners.
The interior ministry said the dead would be buried in the Mesaimeer graveyard after the funeral at Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Wahhab Mosque.
Authorities beefed up security, with checkpoints on access roads to the mosque.
Barhoum accused Washington of being “a full accomplice” in the Israeli attack.
The White House said Trump did not agree with Israel’s decision to take military action.
He said he was not notified in advance and when he heard, he asked his envoy Steve Witkoff to warn Qatar immediately — but the attack had already started.
Reassessing everything
Israel said it targeted Hamas leaders but the Palestinian group said its senior leaders survived.
Hamas said five of its members were killed — top negotiator Khalil al-Hayya’s son Hamam, his office director Jihad Labad and bodyguards Ahmad Mamlouk, Abdallah Abdelwahd and Mumen Hassoun.
Qatari Lance Corporal Badr Saad Mohammed al-Humaidi al-Dosari was also killed.
Barhoum said Hayya’s wife, his slain son’s wife and his grandchildren were wounded in the attack on the compound where he lived.
In an interview with CNN on Wednesday, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said he could not confirm Hayya’s fate.
Pictures shared on Hamas’s Telegram channel showed Osama Hamdan — a senior figure in the Palestinian group — attending the burial of the group’s dead, along with political bureau member Izzat al-Rishq.
A post by the group said several Hamas members were present at the funeral.
Sheikh Mohammed said the Israeli attack had killed any hope for Israeli hostages in Gaza, adding that Qatar was re-evaluating “everything” surrounding its role as mediator in ceasefire talks.
Doha has been a venue for several rounds of indirect negotiations between Hamas and Israel.
Sheikh Mohammed said he hoped for a collective regional response to the attack and that an Arab-Islamic summit would be held in Doha to decide on a course of action.
The attack has drawn sharp condemnation and a show of solidarity from around the world.
The United Arab Emirates said “any aggression against a GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) member state constitutes an attack on the collective Gulf security framework”.
