Qatar official says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ of hostage release with its strike in Doha on Hamas

By JON GAMBRELL ABDEL KAREEM HANA and WAFAA SHURAFA Associated Press DOHA Qatar AP Qatar s prime minister declared 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 Related Articles In contemporary times in History September thousands killed in terrorist attack on US years protest movements How inhabitants fury toppled leaders in Nepal Sri Lanka and Bangladesh Prince Harry has tea with his father King Charles III in first meeting in over a year Despair and destruction Civilians in Ukraine s eastern strongholds struggle as Russia advances UN nuclear chief says agreement provides for access to all of Iran s nuclear facilities I was meeting one of the hostages families the morning of the attack Sheikh Mohammed narrated 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 the day before 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 up-to-date days though countless 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 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 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 Precaution 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 endorsement for Qatar s safeguard and sovereignty Qatar also reported it was organizing an Arab-Islamic summit next week in Doha to discuss the attack Hamas commented 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 substantiated 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 administration has engaged in wars across the region since Hamas Oct terrorist attack 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 noted Because if you don t we will In what appeared to be the first move by a Gulf Arab state over the strike the United Arab Emirates blocked Israeli firms from participating in the Dubai Air Show in November Israeli media stated The Israeli Defense Ministry advised The Associated Press on Thursday that it had received the notification from the exhibition organizers to the industries The air show s organizers and personnel in the Emirates did not respond to requests for comment However the move would carry major diplomatic importance particularly as the UAE only diplomatically recognized Israel five years ago Displaced Palestinians forced to live on the streets An estimated 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 relatives including orphans announced the three-wheel motorcycle 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 they were able to get was bread that a passerby gave to them I have orphans The one who is in my lap his temperature is high like fire she advised The Associated Press I don t have money to buy medicine for him 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 materials Multiple have been forced to live on the streets Atwah Awad mentioned aid has not reached her or her family I slept in the street tonight Who would accept that I sleep in the street No water no food no bathrooms More than Palestinians killed in the war The war in Gaza began when Hamas stormed into southern Israel in abducting people and killing specific mostly civilians Forty-eight hostages are still held inside Gaza around of them supposed to be alive Israel s retaliatory offensive has killed more than Palestinians according to Gaza s Fitness Ministry The ministry does not say how a multitude of were civilians or combatants but says women and children make up around half the dead Two Palestinian boys killed by Israeli troops The Palestinian Wellness Ministry revealed Monday that two Palestinian boys had been shot and killed in Jenin in the West Bank by Israeli troops Israel s military did not without delay respond to a request for comment on the deaths Its troops have been operating in Jenin for months as they press forward with a major operation there and in refugee camps across the north of the territory they say is to root out militancy The operation has displaced tens of thousands of Palestinians from their homes and demolished hundreds of buildings across the northern West Bank Hana informed from Wadi Gaza Gaza Strip and Shurafa announced from Deir al-Balah Gaza Strip Associated Press writers Farnoush Amiri at the United Nations Julia Frankel in Jerusalem and Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv Israel contributed to this account