<img src='https://news.cgtn.com/news/2025-09-14/Gaza-death-toll-rises-Israel-cites-Hamas-chiefs-as-obstacle-to-truce-1GEHREx8Atq/img/116f2f93d1204cab89bfae4c703f729e/116f2f93d1204cab89bfae4c703f729e.png' alt='Smoke rises from an Israeli army bombardment in Gaza City, September 13, 2025. /VCG'
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday that getting rid of Hamas chiefs living in Qatar would remove the main obstacle to releasing all hostages and ending the war in Gaza.
Israel targeted the Hamas leadership in Doha in air strikes that were condemned by Qatar, which has served as one of the
venues for ceasefire talks.
Hamas said five of its members, including a son of its exiled Gaza chief Khalil al-Hayya, were killed in the attack, but its senior leaders and members of its negotiating team survived. Qatar said a member of its internal security forces was also killed.
“The Hamas terrorist chiefs living in Qatar don’t care about the people in Gaza. They blocked all ceasefire attempts in order to endlessly drag out the war,” Netanyahu said in a post on X.
Hamas has described the Doha attack as an attempt by Israel to derail the ceasefire negotiations, adding it would not change the group’s terms for ending the war in Gaza.
Israel has demanded Hamas free all remaining hostages held in Gaza and disarm. Hamas says it will not free all hostages without an agreement that would end the war and will not give up its weapons until Palestinians have an independent state.
“Catastrophic” situation
At least 45 Palestinian civilians, including 29 from Gaza City, were killed on Saturday by Israeli gunfire and shelling in various parts of the Gaza Strip, the official news agency WAFA reported.
Palestinian officials reported widespread destruction in residential areas, a rising death toll and mounting pressure on hospitals as the Israeli military expanded its operations in Gaza City, warning residents to leave.
Gaza’s Civil Defense agency accused Israel of targeting schools sheltering displaced people and crowded residential buildings, killing dozens and wounding hundreds. In a statement, it said the army was seeking to empty the city through “comprehensive destruction.”
The Hamas-run Gaza government media office said in a statement that since the start of its ground offensive on August 11, the Israeli army has destroyed more than 1,600 residential buildings and 13,000 tents for displaced families, forcing over 350,000 people to flee from eastern Gaza City to central and western areas.
It said major neighborhoods, including Shuja’iyya, Zaytoun, Tuffah, Rimal, and Sheikh Radwan, were facing systematic destruction, which it called a violation of international humanitarian law.
Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee said on Saturday that more than 250,000 residents had left Gaza City “for their safety.” He urged civilians to use Al-Rashid Street to head to the “humanitarian zone” in Al-Mawasi in southern Gaza or to “empty areas” in central Gaza. He said Gaza City has become “a dangerous combat zone” and that the army is determined to defeat Hamas there.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) described the situation in Gaza City as “catastrophic.”
“Air strikes are ongoing everywhere, including without prior warning. Almost every moment, a home is bombed. It is terrifying,” UNRWA said in a statement. “People have nowhere to go. There is no safe place. This war must stop.”
The war began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas fighters rampaged through southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking around 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Israel’s subsequent campaign in Gaza has killed nearly 65,000 Palestinians, according to the enclave’s health authorities.
(With input from agencies)
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