By Steven Scheer
JERUSALEM (Reuters) -The families of Israeli hostages held in Gaza said they were fearful for the fate of their loved ones after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to launch strikes on the Hamas leadership in Qatar, just as a new ceasefire push was underway.
Qatar has been hosting leaders of the Palestinian militant group which is still holding 48 hostages in Gaza, and is one of the mediators, along with the United States, trying to secure a ceasefire deal that would include the captives’ release.
Some hostage families said they were outraged by Tuesday’s assassination attempt in Doha, fearing Hamas could take retribution against their loved ones.
Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan was kidnapped from his Kibbutz in the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attacks that triggered the war in Gaza, said she was trembling with fear that her son’s fate has now been sealed.
“Why does the prime minister insist on blowing up every small chance for a deal? Why?” she said in a video she sent to journalists. “The people of Israel are tired of this war. End it already and bring everyone back.”
Matan Zangauker is one of 20 hostages believed to still be alive after almost two years in captivity. Families of those believed to have died in Gaza are fearful they will never have the chance to bury their loved ones if their remains are lost forever in the shattered enclave.
“I’m horrified at the idea that when we finally had an American-led deal that could have led to the release of our hostages, this is the action that took place,” Udi Goren, whose cousin Tal Haimi’s body is still in Gaza, told Reuters.
“I have no regret in seeing these people punished. They are all a part of the people that massacred, that planned what happened on October 7. However, the only way that my cousin Tal will be back for burial is by a negotiated deal,” said Goren.
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid said on Tuesday: “The Israeli government must explain how the IDF (Israel Defence Forces) operation will not lead to the killing of the hostages, and whether the risk to their lives was taken into account in the decision.”
END OF THE WAR?
Hours after the attack in Doha, Netanyahu said the strike could speed up the war’s end. A message by his hostage liaison Gal Hirsch to the families said that the Hamas leadership abroad has been an obstacle to reaching a ceasefire agreement.
In Gaza on Wednesday, Palestinian families continued to stream out of Gaza City along the coastal road in anticipation of a major Israeli offensive.
While some critics say that the attack in Doha points to Netanyahu not wanting to end the war any time soon, others say it may actually mark the beginning of the war’s conclusion.
Amos Nadan, director of the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies, said that Tuesday’s strike could be a similar move to the assassination of Hassan Nasrallah, leader of Lebanese militia and Hamas ally Hezbollah a year ago, which was followed by an Israel-Lebanon ceasefire two months later.
“In Israel we have to remember that the vast majority of the people now are in favour of ending the war and bringing back the hostages,” Nadan told Reuters. “So that might look like the concluding remarks of the war.”
(Additional reporting by Emily Rose, Maayan Lubell and Rami Amichay; Editing by Maayan Lubell and Ros Russell)
