Families of Israeli hostages still being held by Hamas have said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is the “one obstacle” preventing their return and reaching a peace deal.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum wrote on social media that Israel’s strike on Qatar last week shows “every time a deal approaches, Netanyahu sabotages it”.
On Tuesday Israel attacked senior Hamas leaders meeting in a house in the Qatari capital Doha. The Palestinian armed group said five of its members and a Qatari security official were killed.
On Sunday US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Israel for a visit during which he is due to meet Netanyahu as Israel faces international condemnation for the attack.
Netanyahu said on Saturday that eliminating Hamas leaders in Qatar “would rid the main obstacle” to releasing the hostages and ending the war.
He also accused Hamas of blocking all ceasefire attempts in order to drag out the war in Gaza. Hamas members had been in Doha to discuss the latest US proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza.
However, families of the hostages described the Israeli PM’s response as “the latest excuse for failing to bring home” their loved ones.
“The targeted operation in Qatar proved beyond any doubt that there is one obstacle to returning the 48 hostages and ending the war: Prime Minister Netanyahu,” they said.
“The time has come to end the excuses designed to buy time so he can cling to power.”
The group added that Netanyahu’s “stalling” had cost “the lives of 42 hostages and threatens the lives of additional hostages who are barely surviving”.
Before his departure, Rubio said US President Donald Trump was not happy with the strike on Qatar, but stressed that the US-Israeli relationship was “very strong”.
“Obviously we’re not happy about it, the president was not happy about it. Now we need to move forward and figure out what comes next,” Rubio said.
He added that Trump’s priority remains the return of all hostages and an end to the the war in Gaza.
When asked whether the strike on Doha complicates Qatar’s willingness to work with the US, Rubio said “they’ve been good partners on a number of fronts”.
Qatar is a key US ally in the region and the location of a major American air base.
In the wake of the strike, Qatar condemned Israel’s attack as “cowardly” and a “flagrant violation of international law”.
Netanyahu said the move was “fully justified” because it targeted senior Hamas leaders who organised the 7 October 2023 attacks.
Meanwhile, Israeli forces have stepped up their assault on Gaza City with a wave of heavy air strikes, reducing entire apartment blocks and large concrete structures to rubble.
Israel has also warned all residents in the region to leave immediately in anticipation of a huge ground offensive.
Residents said the Israeli military has been targeting schools and makeshift shelters, often issuing warnings only moments before bombardments.
On Saturday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said about 250,000 people had left the city and moved south.
Netanyahu’s plan to occupy Gaza City has drawn international criticism, with the UN warning a military escalation in an area where famine has been declared will push civilians into an “even deeper catastrophe”.
On Sunday, the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said the bodies of 68 people killed by the Israeli military had arrived at its hospitals over the previous day.
Since UN-backed global food security experts confirmed a famine in Gaza City on 22 August, the ministry has reported that at least 144 people have died from starvation and malnutrition across the territory. Israel has said it is expanding its efforts to facilitate aid deliveries and has disputed the health ministry’s figures on malnutrition-related deaths.
The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.
At least 64,871 people have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.
