Hamas denies assassination attempt on leader in Qatar

Hamas denied rumors that its senior leader Khalil al-Hayya was the target of an assassination attempt in Qatar, according to The New Arab. The Palestinian group dismissed the reports as untrue and politically-driven.

Al-Hayya, who now heads Hamas’s political office, is the group’s most leading figure after the assassinations of Ismail Haniyeh and Yahya Sinwar by Israel.

Unverified reports began spreading on June 14th on anonymous accounts on X and Telegram, claiming there has been an attempt to kill Hayya. Hamas swiftly dismissed the claims and warned against the circulation of untruths.

“The media and social media activists must be accurate in publishing this news and not be drawn into the Zionist media,” Hamas said via its Telegram channel.

Officials from Qatar have not commented on the claims. However, Doha News reported on June 15th that al-Hayya was “alive and well” and that “no security incidents targeting the movement’s leader” took place.

In reference to a source, the outlet said the false reports “could be an attempt by Israel and its propaganda machine to normalise the idea of assassinating Al-Hayya and/or other figures.”

Asharq Al-Awsat via Israeli daily Maariv reported that Israeli security sources issued on June 2nd an updated Hamas target list that contains senior political figures Osama Hamdan and Sami Abu Zuhri.

Meanwhile, Israel appears to be preparing to assassinate four key Hamas figures, Izz al-Din al-Haddad, a Gaza City Brigade commander, as well as Al-Hayya.

Since launching its war on Gaza in October 2023, Israel has carried out a campaign of targeted assassinations against senior Hamas leaders across the region.

Haniyeh was killed in Tehran in July last year, and Saleh al-Arouri, a founding figure of Hamas’s military arm, was killed in an airstrike in Beirut, during January. In August, Yahya Sinwar died in a Rafah drone strike. In May, Israel said an airstrike killed his brother, Mohammed Sinwar.

The New Arab, Asharq Al-Awsat via Israeli daily Maariv, Maghrebi.org, Doha News