DOHA/DUBAI:

Israel launched an airstrike against the leaders of Hamas in Qatar on Tuesday, expanding its wide-ranging military actions in the Middle East to include the Gulf Arab state where the Palestinian group has long had its political base, and potentially dealing a fatal blow to the Gaza ceasefire negotiations.

Hamas said five of its members had been killed in the attack, including the son of its exiled Gaza chief and top negotiator Khalil al-Hayya. It said Israel had failed in an attempt to assassinate the group's ceasefire negotiation team.

Three bodyguards and negotiator Khalil al-Hayya's aide and son were all killed in the attack, Hamas said, affirming "the enemy's failure to assassinate our brothers in the negotiating delegation". Qatar's interior ministry said a member of it

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