Hamas on Sunday denied rumours that its senior leader, Khalil al-Hayya, had survived an assassination attempt in Qatar, dismissing the reports as false and politically motivated.
Al-Hayya, who now heads Hamas's political office, is the group’s most senior figure following Israel’s assassination of Ismail Haniyeh and Yahya Sinwar.
Unverified claims circulated Saturday on anonymous accounts on X and Telegram, alleging an attempt on al-Hayya's life. Hamas quickly rejected the reports, warning against spreading disinformation.
"The media and social media activists must be accurate in publishing this news and not be drawn into the Zionist media," Hamas said in a statement on its Telegram channel.
Qatari officials have not commented on the allegations, but local outlet Doha News reported on Sunday that al-Hayya was "alive and well" and that there were "no security incidents targeting the movement's leader".
Citing a source, the outlet said that the false reports "could be an attempt by Israel and its propaganda machine to normalise the idea of assassinating Al-Hayya and/or other figures".
Since launching its war on Gaza in October 2023, Israel has carried out a campaign of targeted assassinations against senior Hamas leaders across the region.
Haniyeh was killed in Tehran in July 2024, and Saleh al-Arouri, a founding figure in Hamas’s military wing, was assassinated by an airstrike on Beirut in January.
In August, Yahya Sinwar was killed in a drone strike in Rafah. Last month, Israel said an airstrike killed his brother, Mohammed Sinwar, who had taken over leadership of Hamas in Gaza.