Hamas has accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of obstructing a Gaza ceasefire by adding new terms and demands to a US-backed truce proposal after the latest mediated talks, Reuters reported.
The Palestinian Islamist group announced it had received the latest response from Israel following talks in Rome involving Israel, the US, Egypt and Qatar.
Netanyahu’s office declined to comment on the latest Hamas accusations, but Israel says it is Hamas that is blocking the truce deal.
“From what the mediators relayed, it is clear that Netanyahu has returned to his strategy of delaying, evading and evading an agreement, putting forward new conditions and demands,” Hamas said in a statement on Monday.
The Islamist faction accused Netanyahu of abandoning a proposal previously put forward by mediators, which it said was based on an “Israeli idea.”
Washington, which supports the talks, has repeatedly said a deal is close; the latest discussions revolve around a proposal presented by President Joe Biden in May.
Hamas wants a cease-fire agreement to end the conflict in Gaza, while Netanyahu says the war will only end when Hamas is defeated. There are also disagreements over how the final deal will be implemented.
US-backed mediators Qatar and Egypt have repeatedly said the door remains open to further talks, with both Israel and Hamas expressing willingness to continue.
On Sunday, a source in the Egyptian security services assured that the Israeli delegation, led by the head of the Foreign Intelligence Service (Mossad) David Barnea, included in its amendments “surveying displaced persons after their return to the north of Gaza, when the truce begins,” the Spanish press notes. EFE agency, transferred to Agerpres. According to this source, Israel refuses to leave the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing, an aspect rejected by the US, Qatar and, above all, Egypt.
In early July, Prime Minister Netanyahu outlined his “red lines” for the cease-fire agreement, which included preventing arms smuggling from Egypt to Gaza, fueling tensions between the two sides in a debate over the management of the Rafah border crossing, which has been closed since early May and under Israeli control.
The meeting in Rome, which hosts delegations of mediators as well as delegations from the two sides involved in the conflict, comes at a time of pressure on Israel from its main ally, the United States. After meeting with Israel’s prime minister, Vice President and future Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris said last Thursday that it was time to end the war in Gaza with a cease-fire agreement that includes the release of hostages.
Of the 251 people kidnapped by Hamas in the Oct. 7 attack that started the war, 111 remain in the enclave, with at least 39 dead, according to Israel, or more than 70, according to Hamas.
Since the beginning of the war, Israel and Hamas only reached a week-long ceasefire agreement at the end of November, which allowed the release of 105 hostages.
