Multiple Hamas officials on Saturday denied US and Israeli claims that a ceasefire-hostage deal was progressing – insisting that it was an “illusion” and that parties abide by the July 2 agreement presented by US President Joe Biden.
American officials, including Biden, stated that major gaps had been bridged in the ceasefire discussions spanning from Thursday to Friday which are anticipated to continue next week.
Senior Hamas official Ghazi Hamad lashed out at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for ‘undermining’ the current hostage and ceasefire negotiations in a Friday interview with the Hezbollah-affiliated Al-Mayadeen.
Hamad told Al-Mayadeen that Netanyahu was “practicing deception” and claimed that he was “setting new conditions and undermining what was previously agreed upon.”
Hamad pushed the idea that Netanyahu was not interested in a deal and was actively preventing the conclusion of negotiations.
“Netanyahu undermined the agreement from the ground up,” he said.
Hamas Political Bureau member Hossam Badran insisted that the terror group would adhere only to the terms discussed in the July 2 mediation attempts, it was announced on Hamas’s Telegram channel.
Badran noted that the July 2 discussions centered on a proposal made by United States President Joe Biden, which he credited to Israel. Citing Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Badran claimed that Netanyahu was obstructing parties from reaching an agreement.
Hamas spokesperson Sami Abu Zohri mirrored similar sentiments to Badran and Hamad, according to Ynet, claiming that Hamas is “not facing a real negotiated agreement, but the imposition of American dictates.”
Zohri claimed that current efforts to reach a deal, and claims that an agreement would soon be reached, were an “illusion.”
“What we heard from the mediators indicates a major withdrawal from the agreement from the beginning of July,” the spokesperson claimed, while adding that US is “fully embracing Israel’s position, which has withdrawn from previous commitments.”
Consistent accusations
This is not the first time that Netanyahu has been accused of blocking negotiations with Egyptian mediators. Israeli negotiators and even US President Biden have accused him of working to prevent a deal from being made.
Addressing the recent attempts at negotiations, Hamas said, “The proposed paper does not contain anything ambiguous, but the Israeli side was procrastinating in providing an answer about what was proposed.”
Hamad accused Israel of introducing new conditions relating to the Philadelphi corridor after both sides had previously agreed on a total Israeli withdrawal.
He reiterated that Hamas would not allow Israel to remain in any part of the Gaza Strip, claiming that Israel was leaving loopholes in the agreement to allow them to return to war later.
Hamad pinned all of the issues during negotiations on Israel, saying, “Israel has thwarted all the mediators’ efforts to reach an agreement. Israel has thwarted the Doha negotiations today, and there was no progress.”
He called for mediators to put more pressure on Israel but seemingly distanced the negotiations from the expected Iranian-Hezbollah response to the twin assassinations of Ismail Haniyeh and Fuad Shukr, saying, “The Iranian response and Hezbollah’s response are their right and have a different path from the path of negotiations.”
“Talk about negotiations, coexistence with the occupation, and peace is all lies,” he said.
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