JERUSALEM
\nThe United States has said it is time to \u201cfinalise\u201d a deal between Israel and Hamas to end the Gaza war, after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s refusal to bow to pressure.
\nWashington would work \u201cover the coming days\u201d with fellow mediators Egypt and Qatar \u201cto push for a final agreement,\u201d said US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller on Tuesday.
\nHe was speaking after Netanyahu rejected \u201cconcessions\u201d in indirect negotiations with Hamas, despite growing domestic and international pressure following the recovery by Israel\u2019s military of six killed prisoners from the war-ravaged Palestinian territory.
\n\u201cIt is time to finalise that deal,\u201d Miller said.
\nThe United States on Tuesday unsealed a raft of \u201cterrorism\u201d and other charges against six Hamas leaders related to the group\u2019s October 7 attack on Israel which sparked the war in Gaza.
\nThose targeted in the February charges include Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar and his predecessor Ismail Haniyeh, who had been engaged in truce talks when he was killed in July in an attack blamed on Israel.
\nUN human rights chief Volker Turk called for an \u201cindependent, impartial and transparent investigation\u201d into reports that the six captives recovered dead from Gaza had been summarily executed.
\nDespite increasing grief and fury among Israelis, who have taken to the streets to pressure the government and express concern for the fate of the hostages, Netanyahu said he would \u201cnot give in to pressure\u201d.
\nPhiladelphi Corridor
\nThe Israeli premier on Monday said \u201cthe achievement of the war\u2019s objectives\u201d requires control of the Philadelphi Corridor along the Gaza-Egypt border, to stop Hamas from rearming.
\nEgypt on Tuesday rejected accusations its Gaza border was being used to arm Hamas, accusing Netanyahu of seeking to \u201cdistract Israeli public opinion and obstruct reaching a ceasefire deal\u201d.
\nSaudi Arabia backed Cairo and expressed its \u201cstrong condemnation and denunciation of the Israeli statements regarding the Philadelphi Corridor\u201d, in a foreign ministry statement.
\nUS President Joe Biden, meeting with negotiators, replied \u201cno\u201d when asked if he thought Netanyahu was doing enough to secure a hostage deal.
\nHamas has long demanded a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, and Egyptian officials have objected to an Israeli military presence on the border.
\nNetanyahu \u201cwants to occupy Gaza on some level indefinitely\u201d and was now \u201cjust saying it more openly\u201d, analyst Mairav Zonszein told AFP.
\nActivist detained
\nDanish police detained activist Greta Thunberg at a Copenhagen protest against the war in Gaza and Israel\u2019s occupation of the West Bank on Wednesday, a spokesperson for the organisers of the demonstration said.
\nThunberg was later released from detention, according to Danish media reports, and the daily Ekstra Bladet showed video footage of her walking out of a police station.
\nSix people had been detained at Copenhagen University after about 20 people blocked the entrance to a building and three entered, a police spokesperson said without commenting on individual detainees.
\nWidely known for her campaign to end man-made climate change, Swedish-born Thunberg has increasingly taken up the Palestinian cause and said in May such protests \u201cshould be everywhere\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
JERUSALEM The United States has said it is time to \u201cfinalise\u201d a deal between Israel and Hamas to end the Gaza war, after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s refusal to bow to pressure. Washington would work \u201cover the coming days\u201d with fellow mediators Egypt and Qatar \u201cto push for a final agreement,\u201d said US State […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":429488,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-429462","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n