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Getty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\nFamilies 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.<\/p>\n
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum: Bring Them Home Now wrote on social media that Israel’s strike on Qatar last week shows “every time a deal approaches, Netanyahu sabotages it”.<\/p>\n
The group’s comments come after Israel carried out a strike on senior Hamas leaders in the Qatari capital of Doha, which Hamas said killed five of it members and a Qatari security official.<\/p>\n
On Saturday, Netanyahu said getting rid of Hamas leaders in Qatar “would rid the main obstacle” to releasing the hostages and ending the war.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
He also accused Hamas of blocking all ceasefire attempts in order to drag out the war in Gaza.<\/p>\n
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio travelled to Israel on Saturday and is due to meet Netanyahu as Israel faces global condemnation for the attack.<\/p>\n
However, families of the hostages described the Israeli PM’s response as “the latest excuse for failing to bring home” their loved ones.<\/p>\n
“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.<\/p>\n
“The time has come to end the excuses designed to buy time so he can cling to power.”<\/p>\n
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”.<\/p>\n
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”.<\/p>\n
“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.<\/p>\n
He added that Trump’s priority remains the return of all hostages and an end to the the war in Gaza.<\/p>\n
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”.<\/p>\n
Qatar is a key US ally in the region and the location of a major American air base.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
In the wake of the strike, Qatar condemned Israel’s attack as “cowardly” and a “flagrant violation of international law”.<\/p>\n Netanyahu said the move was “fully justified” because it targeted senior Hamas leaders who organised the 7 October 2023 attacks.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Israel has also warned all residents in the region to leave immediately in anticipation of a huge ground offensive.<\/p>\n Residents said the Israeli military has been targeting schools and makeshift shelters, often issuing warnings only moments before bombardments.<\/a><\/p>\n On Saturday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said about 250,000 people had left the city and moved south. <\/p>\n 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”.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n At least 64,605 people have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n