DOHA:
A senior Hamas leader said Monday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s new terms, which did not exist in the past, showed he did not want to reach a cease-fire deal in Gaza that allows for a hostage exchange.
“What became clear to all parties after the negotiations is that the occupying (Israeli government) under Netanyahu does not want to reach an agreement,” Hussam Badran, head of the group’s national relations office, told Anadolu.
He added that “whenever there is some kind of proposal or consensus between us and the mediators, we find that Netanyahu sets new conditions that did not exist before.”
Earlier on Monday, US President Joe Biden said he did not believe Netanyahu was doing enough to secure a hostage exchange deal with Hamas.
Badran noted that Israel’s recent decision not to withdraw from the Gaza-Egypt border area, known as the Philadelphia Corridor, “completely contradicts all previously negotiated proposals and documents.”
For months, the US, Qatar and Egypt have been trying to broker a deal between Israel and Hamas to secure a hostage exchange and cease-fire and allow humanitarian aid into Gaza. However, mediation efforts have stalled due to Netanyahu’s refusal to meet Hamas’ demands for an end to the war.
Also read: Hamas accuses US of enabling Israel’s anti-ceasefire stance
Badran emphasized that the goal of his movement is to stop the killings and destruction committed in Gaza by the Israeli army and that all positions of the movement regarding negotiations are “Palestinian positions.
Commenting on Turkey’s stance on the evolving situation in Palestine, the Hamas leader said it was “appreciated.”
He added that Hamas welcomes any effort made by Turkey or any Arab or Islamic country to support Gaza, whether at the political, relief or popular level.
Israel’s ongoing war in the Gaza Strip has killed more than 40,700 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured more than 94,100 others, according to local health authorities.
The continued blockade of the enclave has led to severe shortages of food, clean water and medicine, leaving much of the area in ruins.
Israel faces charges of genocide for its actions in Gaza at the International Court of Justice.
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