DOHA, Qatar (AP) — 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 hostage’s 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 has done yesterday, he just killed any hope for those hostages.”
His remarks came as thousands of Palestinians sought 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’ last remaining stronghold is aimed 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.
Qatar's diplomatic push
The attack on the territory of a U.S. 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.
Sheikh Mohammed was expected to attend a U.N. Security Council meeting later Thursday, part of a diplomatic push by Qatar after the strike, and Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was set to visit Doha to underscore Pakistan’s support for Qatar’s security and sovereignty.
Hamas said Tuesday that its top leaders survived the strike but that five lower-level members were killed, including the son of Khalil al-Hayya — Hamas’ leader for Gaza and its top negotiator — as well as three bodyguards and the head of al-Hayya’s office.
Hamas, which has sometimes only confirmed the assassination of its leaders months later, offered no immediate proof that al-Hayya and other senior figures had survived.
Qatar and Egypt have been key mediators to try and reach a ceasefire in the war in Gaza. Qatar has hosted Hamas' political leadership for years in Doha, in part over a request by the U.S. to encourage negotiations between the militant group and Israel.
There was no immediate reaction to Sheikh Mohammed's remarks from Netanyahu, whose government has engaged in wars across the region since Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, assault on Israel.
However, Netanyahu has continued to defend the strikes and threatened further action against Qatar a day after U.S. President Donald Trump had sought to ease tensions between the U.S. allies, including by assuring the Gulf nation that there would be no more such strikes on its soil.
“I say to Qatar and all nations who harbor terrorists, you either expel them or you bring them to justice,” Netanyahu said. “Because if you don’t, we will.”
Displaced Palestinians forced to live on the streets
An estimated 1 million Palestinians — around half of Gaza’s overall population — live in the area of north Gaza around Gaza City, according to the Israeli military and the United Nations. On Wednesday, dozens of vehicles, motorbikes, and donkey carts loaded with belongings lined the city's coastal road as they tried to leave.
Amal Sobh, displaced from Beit Lahia with 30 relatives — including 13 orphans — said the three-wheel vehicle carrying their belongings broke down and they had no fuel, leaving the family stranded.
After one of her boys came down with a fever, the only food or medicine they were able to get was bread that a passerby gave to them.
“I have 13 orphans. The one who is in my lap, his temperature is high like fire,” she told The Associated Press. “I don’t have money to buy medicine for him.”
Umm Mohamed al-Boghdady said her family lost their tents and belongings in an Israeli strike.
“The tents are gone, and nothing is left of it, not even clothes and belongings. We only left with a basil plant.”
Meanwhile in Muwasi, an area at the southern end of the strip where Israel has encouraged people to move, displaced Palestinians from northern Gaza struggled to find shelter due to overcrowding and lack of adequate resources. Many have been forced to live on the streets.
Atwah Awad said aid has not reached her or her family.
“I swear to God, that I do not have a shekel to buy food," she said. "I slept in the street tonight. Who would accept that I sleep in the street? No water, no food, no bathrooms.”
More than 64,600 Palestinians killed in the war
The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel in 2023, abducting 251 people and killing some 1,200, mostly civilians. Forty-eight hostages are still held inside Gaza, around 20 of them believed to be alive.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 64,600 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The ministry does not say how many were civilians or combatants but says women and children make up around half the dead.
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Associated Press writer Farnoush Amiri at the United Nations contributed to this report. Hana reported from Wadi Gaza, Gaza Strip, and Shurafa reported from Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip.
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