Senior Qatari official says targeted Hamas leaders had gathered to discuss ceasefire proposal

By Jacob Magid

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9 September 2025, 4:57 pm

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Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief

A composite image of the five members of Hamas's temporary joint leadership. Top row from left: Zaher Jabarin, Khaled Mashaal, Khalil al-Hayya. Bottom row from left: Muhammad Ismail Darwish, Nizar Awadallah. (Credits: Mahmud Hams/AFP, Louai Beshara/AFP, Hamas, Ashraf Amra/APA/ZUMA Press via Alamy)

A senior Qatari official blasts Israel for conducting a strike on Hamas’s leaders on Qatari soil, saying it came as Doha was working to advance the hostage deal framework crafted last week by US special envoy Steve Witkoff.

“Hamas received the new US proposal from us, which we obtained from Witkoff last week in Paris. Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed Abdulrahman Al Thani met with Hamas negotiators yesterday. The Hamas delegation then decided to meet again today to discuss the proposal, traveling from Turkey to Qatar where the strike took place,” the official continues.

“However, as has happened before, the Israelis undermined hopes for peace, further prolonging the war and complicating efforts to bring back the hostages,” says the senior Qatari official in a statement.