ISTANBUL 

The Palestinian resistance group Hamas on Sunday denounced Israel’s strike on Doha as a “deliberate attempt” to assassinate its negotiating delegation and a “grave violation” of Qatar’s sovereignty, urging Arab and Muslim states to impose a political and economic boycott on Israel.

In a message to Arab and Islamic foreign ministers, as well as the UN, African Union and other international bodies, Hamas said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government bore the “full responsibility” for sabotaging mediation efforts and derailing ceasefire talks.

The movement said the Doha attack came a day after its delegation, including lead negotiator Khalil al-Hayya, met Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, who handed them a new proposal for a ceasefire and prisoner exchange. The team was meeting to discuss the offer on Sept. 9 when Israeli aircraft targeted al-Hayya’s home.

According to Hamas, the attack killed al-Hayya’s son Humam, his office director Jihad Lubad, three aides and a Qatari security guard. Several family members were wounded, though the negotiators survived.

Hamas said the assault was aimed at “undermining the very principle of mediation” and reflected Israel’s repeated pattern of reversing agreements and committing massacres. It recalled the collapse of a Jan. 17 deal, as well as the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran earlier this year despite the group’s acceptance of a mediation initiative at the time.

The group called on Arab and Muslim states, along with the wider international community, to pressure Israel to halt its military campaign, isolate it politically and economically, and pursue its leaders before international courts for genocide and war crimes.

Hamas reaffirmed that it is a national liberation movement seeking Palestinian independence with Jerusalem as its capital, stressing that its elected leadership cannot be treated as legitimate military targets.

In a separate statement, Palestinian resistance factions urged the Arab-Islamic emergency summit in Doha to take “urgent, collective measures” and form an “Arab-international coalition” to halt Israel’s ongoing genocidal campaign in Gaza.

The factions said rescuing victims and ending the violence should be a top priority through the formation of a coalition “to pressure Israel and its supporters by all possible means to halt the genocide.”

“Israeli crimes threaten not only Palestinians but also the security and stability of the Arab and Islamic world as a whole,” the statement said.

The groups accused the Israeli government of pursuing a “dangerous plan targeting the entire region in blatant defiance of international law and state sovereignty” and deliberately obstructing peace efforts, including a Gaza ceasefire agreement and prisoner exchange.

They also demanded urgent humanitarian aid for hospitals, clinics, civil defense units, and displaced persons in Gaza, including tents, ready-to-use homes, and the creation of a reconstruction fund.

Arab and Islamic foreign ministers held a preparatory meeting in Doha on Sunday ahead of Monday’s emergency summit, which will bring together heads of state. The gathering is also expected to discuss the activation of a long-proposed joint Arab military force, an initiative first advanced by Egypt nearly a decade ago.

The summit comes after Tuesday’s Israeli airstrike on a residential compound in Doha that killed five Hamas members, as the group was reviewing a US proposal to end the war in Gaza, where nearly 65,000 Palestinians have been killed since October 2023.