Hamas says Israel’s response to ceasefire proposal was ‘negative’
Hamas senior official Osama Hamdan has said the Israeli response to the group’s latest Gaza ceasefire proposal was negative, making it likely that the talks in Qatar would again fail to yield an agreement.
Israel’s response to the three-stage proposal handed to mediators was “negative and did not respond to the demands of our people”, he said. These included the cessation of the hostilities in Gaza, the return of the displaced to their homes and the withdrawal of the Israeli military from the strip.
While Hamas showed “flexibility,” Israel backed away from what it had previously agreed on and continued “to procrastinate”, Hamdan said, “which could lead the negotiations to a dead end.” He blamed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for blocking the agreement and added that the US must stop sending arms to Israel if it truly wants to stop “genocide” in Gaza.
Hamas accuses Israel of intensifying civilian attacks to help truce talks
Hamas official Osama Hamdan says Israel continues to target civilian areas to strengthen its hand in ceasefire discussions. “With every round of negotiations, it escalates its crimes against our people, thinking that with such crimes it may achieve gains at the negotiating table,” said Hamdan.
“We affirm again that what the occupation does not take in the military battle and the crime of genocide, it will not take it with the machinations of politics and the games of negotiations.”
Hamdan said “approvals” previously agreed on in talks have now been retracted by Israel, calling it a “policy of procrastination”.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/3/20/gaza-ceasefire-talks-what-are-israel-and-hamas-saying
In response to the latest Hamas truce offer, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it was still based on “unrealistic demands”.
Netanyahu has said that Israel still plans to invade Rafah, the last and southern most refuge of Palestinians who fled months of Israeli bombardment, to realise its goal of defeating Hamas.
One fundamental disagreement between the two sides is that Hamas wants a permanent ceasefire while Israel insists on the ‘total eradication of Hamas’.
