'Every time a deal approaches, Netanyahu sabotages it', say families of hostages

Families of Israeli hostages have said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is “the one obstacle” to a peace deal and the safe return of their loved ones.

In a statement shared by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum: Bring Them Home Now, the group said last week’s Israeli strike on Qatar demonstrated that “every time a deal approaches, Netanyahu sabotages it.”

The criticism came after Israel targeted senior Hamas figures in Doha, an attack the group said killed five of its members and a Qatari security officer.

Netanyahu defended the operation on Saturday, saying eliminating Hamas leaders in Qatar “would rid the main obstacle” to freeing the hostages and ending the conflict. He also accused Hamas of blocking ceasefire efforts in an attempt to prolong the war in Gaza.

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U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Israel the same day and is expected to hold talks with Netanyahu as international condemnation of the Qatar strike intensifies.

Hostage families, however, dismissed Netanyahu’s position as “the latest excuse for failing to bring home” those still in captivity.

“The targeted operation in Qatar proved beyond any doubt that there is one obstacle to returning the 48 hostages and ending the war: Prime Minister Netanyahu,” the forum said.

“The time has come to end the excuses designed to buy time so he can cling to power.”

The group further charged that Netanyahu’s “stalling” had already cost “the lives of 42 hostages and threatens the lives of additional hostages who are barely surviving.”