DOHA — Qatar's interior ministry said a member of its internal security forces was killed in the Israeli strike targeting Hamas leaders in Doha on Tuesday.

 

"According to preliminary information, the attack resulted in the martyrdom of Corporal Bader Saad Mohammed al-Humaidi al-Dosari, a member of the Internal Security Force (Lekhwiya)," a statement said, adding that other security personnel were also wounded.

 

Israel's military said it conducted air strikes targeting senior Hamas leaders in the Qatari capital on Tuesday, as Qatar condemned an attack on buildings housing members of the Palestinian militant movement.

 

Qatar, which has been a key mediator in efforts to broker a truce in Gaza, said Israeli strikes targeted the homes of several members of Hamas's political bureau residing in the Gulf country, where the group's senior leadership is based.

 

A Hamas official in Gaza told AFP the group's negotiators had been "targeted" in Doha, though it was not immediately clear whether the attack had caused any casualties.

 

A video journalist working with AFP in Doha saw a plume of smoke rising from behind a low-rise building.

 

"The name of the operation in Doha is Summit of Fire. These were air strikes," an Israeli military official told AFP.

 

Qatar condemned the attack, saying it had targeted residential buildings housing Hamas political bureau members.

 

"The State of Qatar strongly condemns the cowardly Israeli attack that targeted residential buildings housing several members of the political bureau of Hamas in the Qatari capital, Doha," foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari said in a post on X.

 

Tuesday's strikes -- Israel's first attack on the Western-backed Gulf state -- come less than two weeks after Israel's armed forces chief vowed to target the group's leaders based abroad.

 

"Most of Hamas's leadership is abroad, and we will reach them as well," Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir said on August 31.

 

'Flagrant violation'

 

Along with the United States and Egypt, Qatar has led multiple attempts to end the Israeli war on Gaza.

 

Despite sealing two temporary truces, the successive rounds of talks have failed to bring a lasting end to the war.

 

Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said Israel's targeting of Hamas leaders was a "wholly independent" operation.

 

Washington urged nationals in Doha to shelter in place.

 

"US citizens are advised to shelter-in-place and monitor @USEmbassyDoha social media for updates," the US embassy posted.

 

UN chief Antonio Guterres condemned Israel's "flagrant violation" of Qatari sovereignty

 

The attack came as Israel stepped up a deadly assault on Gaza City, the Palestinian territory's largest urban centre.

 

On Monday, Netanyahu issued a video statement addressing residents of the city: "I say to the residents: you have been warned, leave now!

 

"All of this is just a prelude, just the opening, to the main intensified operation -- the ground manoeuvre of our forces, who are now organising and assembling to enter Gaza City," he said.