DOHA, Sep 11: Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani has expressed his anger towards Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the recent attack on Hamas leaders in Doha, which killed at least six people.
Sheikh Mohammed said that Netanyahu’s actions had killed any hope for the hostages and that thousands of Palestinians were fleeing Gaza City ahead of Israel’s impending offensive there.
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 has already been devastated from earlier raids and experiencing famine.
The attack on Qatar’s territory alarmed countries in the Mideast and beyond, risking upending talks aimed at ending the war and freeing hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza.
Sheikh Mohammed was expected to attend a UN Security Council meeting later on Thursday, part of a diplomatic push by Qatar after the strike.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is set to visit Doha to underscore Pakistan’s support for Qatar’s security and sovereignty.
Qatar also announced an Arab-Islamic summit next week in Doha to discuss the attack.
Hamas said on 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.
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, whose foreign minister travelled to Doha on Thursday, have been key mediators to try to 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 US 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’ October 7, 2023, assault on Israel.
However, Netanyahu has continued to defend the strikes and threatened further action against Qatar a day after US President Donald Trump had sought to ease tensions between the US allies, including by assuring the Gulf nation that there would be no more such strikes on its soil.
An estimated 1 million Palestinians 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.
Many displaced Palestinians from northern Gaza struggled to find shelter due to overcrowding and a lack of adequate resources. Many have been forced to live on the streets.
More than 64,700 Palestinians were killed in the war in Gaza, which began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel in 2023, abducting 251 people and killing around 1,200, mostly civilians.
Forty-eight hostages are still held inside Gaza, with around 20 of them believed to be alive.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 64,700 Palestinians, with women and children making up around half the dead. (AP)
