Netanyahu 'just killed any hope for those hostages'

ATAR'S prime minister has said Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu “killed any hope” for the release of hostages still held in the Gaza Strip after Israel attacked Hamas chiefs in Doha.

- JON GAMBRELL, ABDEL KAREEM HANA and WAFAA SHURAFAE

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

“T was meeting one of the hostages’ families the morning of the attack,’ Sheikh Mohammed told CNN in an interview.

“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 are aimed taking over the largest Palestinian city that was 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.