JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday that getting rid of Hamas chiefs living in Qatar would remove the main obstacle to releasing all hostages and ending the war in Gaza.
Israel targeted the Hamas leadership in Doha in air strikes that were condemned by Qatar, which has served as one of the venues for ceasefire talks.
Hamas has said five of its members, including a son of its exiled Gaza chief Khalil al-Hayya, were killed in the attack, but its senior leaders and members of its negotiating team survived. Qatar has said a member of its internal security forces was also killed.
“The Hamas terrorist chiefs living in Qatar don’t care about the people in Gaza. They blocked all ceasefire attempts in order to endlessly drag out the war,” Netanyahu said in a post on X.
Hamas has described the Doha attack as an attempt by Israel to derail the ceasefire negotiations, and said it would not change the group’s terms for ending the war in Gaza.
Israel has demanded Hamas free all remaining hostages held in Gaza and disarm. Hamas says it will not free all hostages without an agreement that would end the war, and will not give up its weapons until Palestinians have an independent state.
(Reporting by Jaidaa Taha and Ahmed Tolba; Editing by Peter Graff)
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