Hamas urges White House to pressure Israel for Gaza ceasefire as Netanyahu denies deal in progress
The White House in Washington DC at summer day. The White House is home of the President of the United States of America, Washington DC, USA.
Hamas on Thursday called on the United States to “exert real pressure” on Israel to reach a ceasefire agreement in Gaza, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated there is no deal currently in the works.
Both sides have exchanged accusations over the delay in reaching a ceasefire and a potential hostage exchange. Netanyahu is under increasing pressure to secure an agreement that would free the remaining captives, following the announcement by Israeli authorities on Sunday that the bodies of six individuals were recovered from a Gaza tunnel.
“If the US administration and its President (Joe) Biden really want to reach a ceasefire and complete a prisoner exchange deal, they must abandon their blind bias toward the Zionist occupation,” Hamas’s Qatar-based lead negotiator Khalil Al-Hayya said, calling on the US to “exert real pressure on Netanyahu and his government.”
But Netanyahu told US talk show Fox & Friends: “There is not a deal in the making… Unfortunately, it’s not close but we will do everything we can to get them to the point where they do make a deal and at the same time we prevent Iran from resupplying Gaza as this great terror enclave.”
Netanyahu stressed that Israel must retain control over the Philadelphi Corridor along the Egypt-Gaza border to prevent weapons smuggling to Hamas, whose October 7 attack on Israel started the war.
on the other hand, Hamas is demanding complete Israeli withdrawal from the area and on Thursday said Netanyahu’s position “aims to thwart reaching an agreement.”
The Palestinian militant group says a new deal is unnecessary because they agreed months ago to a truce outlined by Biden.
“We do not need new proposals,” Hamas said in a statement.
“We warn against falling into the trap of Netanyahu… who uses negotiations to prolong the aggression against our people,” the group said.
But he added that “nothing is negotiated until everything is negotiated, and the things that are still in play right now are very, very detailed… issues, and that’s when things get difficult.”
