Hamas says Netanyahu comments intended to undermine truce prospects

A apical Hamas authoritative accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Friday of issuing statements intended to torpedo prospects for a truce successful the astir seven-month warfare successful Gaza.

Hossam Badran told AFP that Hamas was successful the process of conducting interior dialogues wrong its enactment and with allied militant groups earlier negotiators instrumentality to Cairo to proceed negotiations towards a truce.

But helium warned that Netanyahu’s repeated statements insisting helium volition nonstop troops into the territory’s acold confederate metropolis of Rafah were calculated to “thwart immoderate anticipation of concluding an agreement”.

“Netanyahu was the obstructionist successful each erstwhile rounds of dialog and erstwhile negotiations, and it is wide that helium inactive is,” helium said successful a telephone interview.

“He is not funny successful reaching an agreement, and truthful helium says words successful the media to thwart these existent efforts.”

Mediators from Egypt, Qatar and the United States person projected a woody that would halt warring for 40 days and speech Israeli hostages for perchance thousands of Palestinian prisoners, according to details released earlier by Britain.

The result of the indirect negotiations has remained highly uncertain, with backmost and distant implicit the fig of hostages that could beryllium released, and profound differences implicit the scope of immoderate agreement.

Badran reiterated that Hamas’s extremity remains a lasting ceasefire and “a implicit and broad withdrawal of the concern forces from the Gaza Strip”.

That purpose is astatine likelihood with the stated presumption of Netanyahu, who has vowed the service volition support warring Hamas, including successful Rafah, wherever immoderate 1.5 cardinal civilians are sheltering successful cramped conditions.

But aft months of stop-start negotiations, the caput of Hamas’s Qatar-based governmental bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, said Thursday that the radical would “soon” nonstop a delegation backmost to Egypt aiming for a woody that “realises the demands of our people”.

Haniyeh further said that Hamas was studying the latest connection from Israel successful a “positive spirit”.

Any woody reached would beryllium the archetypal since a one-week truce successful November that saw 80 Israeli hostages exchanged for 240 Palestinian prisoners.

Israel estimates that 129 hostages stay successful Gaza. The Israeli subject says 35 of them are dead.

The Hamas onslaught connected confederate Israel that started the warfare resulted successful the deaths of 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli authoritative figures.

Israel’s retaliatory run against Hamas has killed much than 34,600 radical successful Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory’s wellness ministry.