Hamas leader accuses Israel of sabotaging cease-fire talks in Qatar

ISTANBUL (AA) - Israel is seeking to sabotage cease-fire negotiations underway in Qatar by targeting police officers and government agencies in the Gaza Strip, the chief of Hamas's political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, said Tuesday.

Brig. Gen. Fayeq al-Mabhouh, the head of police operations in Gaza, was killed Monday in an Israeli raid on Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.

Al-Mabhouh was responsible for coordinating the entry of humanitarian aid with Palestinian tribes and the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) into the northern Gaza Strip, according to a statement by the Gaza Media Office.

"The occupation's targeting of police officers and government agencies in the enclave depicts its attempt to spread chaos and perpetuate the blood shedding in Gaza," Haniyeh said in a statement.

He emphasized that it "also reflects the occupation leaders' attempts to sabotage the negotiations taking place in Doha."

"This will not succeed in achieving Israel's criminal plan, and Hamas will remain committed to the rights of our people and their clear demands to stop the aggression, withdrawing the army, and return the displaced,'' he added.

Indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas continue in Doha, mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the US, amid Israel's ongoing devastating war on Gaza for nearly six months.

Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on Gaza since a cross-border incursion by the Palestinian group, Hamas, on Oct. 7 which killed nearly 1,200 people.

More than 31,800 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have since been killed in the enclave, and nearly 74,000 injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of most food, clean water and medicine, while 60%of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio in Istanbul