JERUSALEM: Hamas on Thursday accused Benjamin Netanyahu of trying to \u201cthwart\u201d a Gaza truce deal, after the Israeli premier said the Palestinian militant group has \u201crejected everything\u201d in negotiations.<\/p>\n
The blame trading comes as Netanyahu faces pressure to seal a deal that would free remaining hostages, after Israeli authorities announced on Sunday the deaths of six whose bodies were recovered from a Gaza tunnel.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re trying to find some area to begin the negotiations,\u201d Netanyahu said Wednesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey (Hamas) refuse to do that… (They said) there\u2019s nothing to talk about.\u201d<\/p>\n
Netanyahu maintains 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.<\/p>\n
Hamas is demanding a complete Israeli withdrawal from the area and on Thursday said Netanyahu\u2019s insistence on the border zone \u201caims to thwart reaching an agreement.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Palestinian militant group says a new deal is unnecessary because they agreed months ago to a truce outlined by US President Joe Biden.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe do not need new proposals,\u201d the group said on Telegram.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe warn against falling into the trap of Netanyahu and his tricks, who uses negotiations to prolong the aggression against our people,\u201d the Hamas statement added.<\/p>\n
US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters that Washington thinks \u201cthere are ways to address\u201d the impasse.<\/p>\n
At Israeli protests in several cities this week, Netanyahu\u2019s critics have blamed him for hostages\u2019 deaths, saying he has refused to make necessary concessions for striking a ceasefire deal.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are just waiting for them to come back to us, to come back alive and not in coffins,\u201d said Anet Kidron, whose community of Kibbutz Beeri was attacked on October 7.<\/p>\n
Netanyahu said questions remain in truce talks over the Palestinian prisoners who Israel would exchange for hostages.<\/p>\n
Key mediator Qatar said on Tuesday that Israel\u2019s approach was \u201cbased on an attempt to falsify facts and mislead world public opinion by repeating lies.\u201d<\/p>\n
Such moves \u201cwill ultimately lead to the demise of peace efforts,\u201d Qatar\u2019s foreign ministry said.<\/p>\n
The October 7 attack by Hamas resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people, mostly civilians including some hostages killed in captivity, according to official Israeli figures.<\/p>\n
Of 251 hostages seized by Palestinian militants during the attack, 97 remain in Gaza including 33 the Israeli military says are dead. Scores were released during a one-week truce in November.<\/p>\n
Israel\u2019s retaliatory offensive in Gaza has so far killed at least 40,861 people, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.<\/p>\n
Most of the dead are women and children, according to the UN rights office.<\/p>\n
While Israel presses on with its Gaza offensive, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said the military should use its \u201cfull strength\u201d against Palestinian militants in the occupied West Bank.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese terrorist organizations that have various names, whether in Nur Al-Shams, Tulkarem, Faraa or Jenin, must be wiped out,\u201d he said, referring to cities and refugee camps where an Israeli military operation is currently underway.<\/p>\n
The Israeli military said Thursday its aircraft \u201cconducted three targeted strikes on armed terrorists\u201d in the Tubas area, which includes Faraa refugee camp.<\/p>\n
A strike on a car left \u201cfive killed and (one) seriously wounded\u201d in Tubas, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said.<\/p>\n
Eyewitnesses told AFP they saw a large number of Israeli troops storming Faraa camp, where explosions were heard.<\/p>\n
Israel has killed more than 30 Palestinians across the northern West Bank since its assault started there on August 28, the territory\u2019s health ministry says, including children and militants.<\/p>\n
One Israeli soldier was killed in Jenin, where the majority of the Palestinian fatalities have been.<\/p>\n
\u201cPanic spread as the army was blowing up everything around without taking into consideration that there were children,\u201d Hanan Natour, a resident of Jenin refugee camp, told AFP on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Israeli troops have destroyed infrastructure in Jenin and elsewhere in the West Bank, with the United Nations reporting the military restricting hospital access and using \u201cwar-like tactics.\u201d<\/p>\n
Israel\u2019s bombardment of Gaza has left the territory in ruins, with the destruction of water and sanitation infrastructure blamed for the spread of disease.<\/p>\n
As part of its campaign, the military has razed neighborhoods and farms to expand a so-called buffer zone between Israel and Gaza.<\/p>\n
Amnesty International said Thursday the policy \u201cshould be investigated as war crimes of wanton destruction and of collective punishment,\u201d an accusation the military did not comment on when contacted by AFP.<\/p>\n
The humanitarian crisis has led to Gaza\u2019s first polio case in 25 years, prompting a massive vaccination effort launched Sunday with localized \u201chumanitarian pauses\u201d in fighting.<\/p>\n
Nearly 200,000 children in central Gaza have received a first dose, the World Health Organization said, with a second stage set to get underway Thursday in the south before medics move north.<\/p>\n
The campaign aims to fully vaccinate more than 640,000 children, with second doses due in about four weeks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
JERUSALEM: Hamas on Thursday accused Benjamin Netanyahu of trying to \u201cthwart\u201d a Gaza truce deal, after the Israeli premier said the Palestinian militant group has \u201crejected everything\u201d in negotiations. The blame trading comes as Netanyahu faces pressure to seal a deal that would free remaining hostages, after Israeli authorities announced on Sunday the deaths of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":429355,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-429336","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n