GAZA STRIP: A senior Hamas official accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday of issuing statements aimed at sabotaging prospects for a ceasefire in the nearly seven months war in Gaza.
Hossam Badran, speaking to AFP, stated that Hamas was currently engaged in internal discussions within its leadership and with allied groups before negotiators resume talks in Cairo to pursue a ceasefire agreement.
However, Badran cautioned that Netanyahu’s repeated declarations of intent to send troops into the southern city of Rafah were deliberate attempts to derail any possibility of reaching an agreement.
“Netanyahu has been obstructive in previous rounds of dialogue and negotiations, and it’s evident that he remains so,” Badran said in a phone interview. “He isn’t interested in reaching an agreement and therefore uses media statements to sabotage current efforts.”
Mediators from Egypt, Qatar, and the United States have proposed a 40-day ceasefire deal and the exchange of Israeli hostages for potentially thousands of Palestinian prisoners. However, the outcome of the indirect negotiations remains uncertain, with ongoing debates over the number of hostages to be released and significant differences over the scope of the agreement.
Badran reiterated Hamas’s objective of achieving a lasting ceasefire and the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza. This goal contrasts with Netanyahu’s stance, who has vowed to continue military operations against Hamas, including in Rafah, where a significant civilian population resides in congested conditions.
Despite months of intermittent negotiations, Ismail Haniyeh, the head of Hamas’s political bureau based in Qatar, announced on Thursday that the group would soon send a delegation back to Egypt to pursue a deal that meets the demands of the Palestinian people. Haniyeh also stated that Hamas was reviewing Israel’s latest proposal with a positive outlook.
Any agreement reached would be the first since a one-week truce in November, which saw the exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners. Israel estimates that 129 hostages remain in Gaza, with the military reporting that 35 of them are deceased.
The war began with Hamas surprise attack on southern Israel that triggered Israel to retaliate with a three-week air campaign followed by a ground offensive that has so far left over 34,632 people dead in Gaza, stated health ministry.
