Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan has stated that Benjamin Netanyahu's talk about approving an updated ceasefire proposal in Gaza means that the US administration failed to convince the Israeli prime minister of the previous deal that Hamas had already agreed to back on July 2.
Hamdan made the comments during an interview with Al Jazeera on Monday evening local time after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s meeting with Netanyahu in Israel and announcement that Netanyahu had voiced support for the US-backed bridging proposal.
Hamdan said the movement had agreed to a truce proposal that had been forwarded by the administration of US President Joe Biden last month.
“We agreed to the proposal presented by Biden, but the US administration failed to convince [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu,” he added.
“The Israelis backtracked on issues included in Biden’s proposal.”
Following Tel Aviv’s U-turn, the US, Egypt, and Qatar, which have been mediating talks aimed at conclusion of a truce agreement, announced they had come up with a new scheme.
Blinken also claimed afterwards that Netanyahu had “accepted” the plan.
Hamdan, however, asserted that Hamas would only agree to implementation of the previous proposal.
The former proposal had featured, among other things, a permanent ceasefire, the regime’s withdrawal from Gaza, and a reconstruction process.
The Hamas’ spokesman likewise underlined that any agreement “must include five specific points, including stopping the aggression, withdrawing from Gaza, and reconstruction”.
“We are still committed to our obligations and are ready to implement them immediately. The one obstructing the efforts to reach an agreement is Netanyahu,” he underscored.
Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, Israel has continued its brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas.
The Israeli onslaught has since killed over 40,130 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured more than 92,740, according to local health authorities.
More than 10 months into the Israeli onslaught, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine.
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