Families of Israeli captives in the Gaza Strip said Saturday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prioritizes his personal interests over rescuing the captives.

This came during a joint press conference broadcast by the private Channel (12) held in front of the Ministry of Defense headquarters in Tel Aviv.

The families of the prisoners said: "It was possible to end the war and bring back all the prisoners, but the prime minister put his personal interests before saving lives."

The families accused Netanyahu of "deliberate negligence," saying, "While the prime minister is on vacation, our children are drinking toilet water in their families."

In early March, the first phase of a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement between Hamas and Israel concluded. The agreement, which went into effect on January 19, 2025, was brokered by Egypt and Qatar and supported by the United States.

On March 18, Israel reneged on the 58-day ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement and resumed its genocidal war on the Gaza Strip, which began on October 7, 2023, and has resulted in the deaths and injuries of more than 165,000 Palestinians, most of them children and women, and more than 11,000 missing.

The families at the conference pointed out that "the details that began to emerge this week about the Qatar Gate affair shed light" on what they described as "the tip of the iceberg of foreign interests running Netanyahu's office, which have thwarted any prospects for a prisoner release deal."

Last Monday, Israeli police announced the arrest of Netanyahu advisor Yonatan Urich and his spokesman Eli Feldstein, as part of the "Qatargate" case, in which police accuse officials in Netanyahu's office of "promoting Qatari interests," according to Hebrew media.

Police say Netanyahu's aides received funds from an American public relations firm working for Qatar to promote the Gulf state favorably in Israel.

Qatar denied these accusations, while Netanyahu said that what was happening was nothing more than a political persecution to bring down the right-wing government.

Following his testimony, Netanyahu released a video statement accusing police of holding his advisers "hostage" in a political investigation.

Netanyahu claimed that the investigation "was aimed at one thing only: preventing the dismissal of Shin Bet (General Security Service) chief Ronen Bar, whose dismissal was approved by the government on March 20 and is scheduled to take effect on April 10."