Getty imagesThe families of Israeli hostages still held by Hamas said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was the “obstacle” preventing their return and concluding a peace agreement.
The Smarting and Family Forum missing: Rattey Them Home Now wrote on social networks that Israel’s strike on Qatar last week shows “each time an agreement is approaching, Netanyahu sabotes it”.
The group’s comments come after Israel has strikes against Hamas senior leaders in the Qatari capital of Doha, which, according to Hamas, killed five IT members and a Qatari security official.
Netanyahu said on Saturday that Hamas leaders in Qatar “will get rid of the main obstacle” to release the hostages and put an end to the war.
He also accused Hamas of having blocked all the ceasefire attempts to drag the war in Gaza.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio went to Israel on Saturday and is expected to meet Netanyahu while Israel faces the global condemnation of the attack.
However, the hostage families described the Israeli Prime Minister’s response as “the last excuse for not having brought home” their relatives.
“The targeted operation in Qatar has proven to be beyond doubt that there is an obstacle to the return of the 48 hostages and at the end of the war: Prime Minister Netanyahu,” they said.
“The time has come to end the excuses designed to buy time so that he can hang on to power.”
The group added that Netanyahu’s “Stalling” had cost “42 hostages and threatens the life of additional hostages that barely survive”.
Before his departure, Rubio said that US President Donald Trump was not satisfied with Qatar’s strike, but stressed that the American-Israeli relationship was “very strong”.
“Obviously, we are not satisfied with it, the president was not satisfied with it. We must now go ahead and understand what comes next,” said Rubio.
He added that Trump’s priority remains the return of all hostages and the end of the war in Gaza.
When asked if Doha’s strike complicates Qatar’s desire to work with the United States, Rubio said: “They were good partners on a certain number of fronts”.
Qatar is a key American ally in the region and the location of a large American air base.
In the wake of the strike, Qatar condemned the attack on Israel as “loose” and a “blatant violation of international law”.
Netanyahu said that this decision was “fully justified” because it targeted senior Hamas leaders who organized the October 7 attacks.
Meanwhile, the Israeli forces have intensified their assault on the city of Gaza with a wave of heavy air strikes, reducing buildings of whole apartments and large concrete structures in rubble.
Israel has also warned all residents of the region to immediately go in anticipation of a huge offensive on the ground.
Residents said the Israeli army was targeting schools and makeshift shelters, often made warnings that a few moments before bombing.
On Saturday, Israeli Defense Forces (FDI) said that around 250,000 people had left the city and moved south.
The Netanyahu’s plan to occupy the city of Gaza aroused international criticism, the UN warning a military escalation in an area where famine has been declared will grow civilians in an “even deeper disaster”.
The Israeli army launched a campaign in Gaza in response to the attack by Hamas against southern Israel on October 7, 2023, during which around 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.
At least 64,605 ​​people have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since then, according to the Hamas Ministry of Hamas in the territory.
