Netanyahu implies Israel didn’t kill Hamas leaders in Doha

Netanyahu’s remarks framed Hamas’s senior command abroad as a persistent barrier to any diplomatic breakthrough and signaled that Israel intends to keep pursuing them.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared to suggest that Israel did not manage to kill Hamas leaders in Doha when he referred to them in the present tense and said eliminating them would be a step towards a ceasefire and the release of Israeli hostages, in an X post on Saturday.

“The Hamas terrorist chiefs living in Qatar don’t care about the people in Gaza,” he said, accusing the group’s leadership of blocking ceasefire efforts “in order to drag out the war endlessly.” He added that eliminating them would remove “the main obstacle to releasing all our hostages and ending the war.”

Since the strike on Tuesday, Israel has not confirmed or denied that the operation killed Hamas leaders. Hamas has claimed Israel’s operation failed and that its leaders are still alive.

The remarks framed Hamas’s senior command abroad as a persistent barrier to any diplomatic breakthrough and signaled that Israel intends to keep pursuing them.

Netanyahu’s comments followed an Israeli strike in Doha on Tuesday that prompted international criticism.

By Wednesday, Israeli security officials expressed pessimism that the strike had eliminated Hamas leaders.

“Right now there’s no indication that the terrorists were killed,” an anonymous official told Channel 12, while cautioning that the battle damage review was still underway.

Ynet cited intelligence figures who expressed doubt that the strike killed all or any of the Hamas leaders.

However, one source said the operation conveyed a broader message to Hamas leaders that they can’t hide from Israel.

Hamas has asserted that its leaders survived the attack. Israeli authorities have not publicly confirmed either fatalities or survivals pending completion of their review.

President Donald Trump criticized the strike on Hamas leaders, posting on Truth Social that it “does not advance Israel or America’s goals.” He added that eliminating Hamas remained “a worthy goal.”

Trump stated that the US military had alerted him ahead of the operation and that he had sent envoy Steve Witkoff to warn Qatar, but the warning arrived too late.

Reports said the Hamas officials were meeting at the time to discuss a US-backed hostage agreement when the strike took place.