Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ of hostage release with its strike in Doha: Official

Doha: Qatar’s prime minister said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “killed any hope” of releasing hostages still held in the Gaza Strip after Israel attacked Hamas leaders in Doha.

The comments from Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, ahead of appearing at the United Nations on Thursday, underscored the wider anger among Gulf Arab countries over Israel’s strike that killed at least six people.

“I was meeting one of the hostages’ families the morning of the attack,” Sheikh Mohammed told CNN in an interview aired late Wednesday. “They are counting on this (ceasefire) mediation. They have no other hope for that.”

Sheikh Mohammed added, “I think that what Netanyahu did yesterday (Tuesday), he just killed any hope for those hostages.”

His remarks came as thousands of Palestinians continued to flee Gaza City ahead of Israel’s impending offensive there. The numbers leaving the city have grown in recent days, though many have refused because they say they no longer have the strength or money to relocate.

The Israeli military’s plans for the next phases of its operation in what it calls Hamas’s last remaining stronghold are aimed at taking over the largest Palestinian city that’s already devastated from earlier raids and experiencing famine.

The plans have drawn widespread condemnation and add to Israel’s already unprecedented global isolation, which intensified further this week following the strike on Qatar.The attack on the territory of a US ally alarmed countries in the Mideast and beyond. It also marked a dramatic escalation in the region and risked upending talks aimed at ending the war and freeing hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza.