The Israeli military insisted that ‘measures were taken in order to mitigate harm to civilians’, and vowed to ‘continue to operate … to defeat the Hamas terrorist organisation’.

A senior Israeli official told Israeli media the attack was aimed at top Hamas leaders including Khalil al-Hayya, its Gaza chief. Qatar said that the strikes had targeted the residential homes of Hamas officials.

A Hamas source said that the Israeli strikes targeted officials during a meeting to discuss Donald Trump’s ceasefire proposals. Negotiators were reportedly hit, and explosions rocked a Hamas compound, but a source said all attending survived.

Contradictory reports quickly began to emerge as foreign channels reported that Khalil al-Hayya, the leader of Hamas, and Khaled Mashal, the head of the external politburo