JERUSALEM/WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Donald Trump appeared on Friday to abandon Gaza ceasefire negotiations with Palestinian militant group Hamas, a day after withdrawing their delegations from talks.
Netanyahu said Israel was now considering “alternative” options to achieve its goals of bringing its hostages home from Gaza and ending the rule of Hamas in the territory. Trump said Hamas did not want to make a deal and he believed the group’s leaders would now be “hunted down”.
The remarks followed statements made overnight by U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff, who said Hamas was to blame for an impasse at the ceasefire negotiations, mediated by Qatar and Egypt. Netanyahu said Witkoff had got it right, and that Hamas was the obstacle to a deal.
Hamas had given its response to a U.S.-backed ceasefire proposal on Thursday, only for Israel to announced hours later that it was withdrawing its negotiators for consultations.
Hamas has disputed Witkoff’s characterisation of the talks and said the negotiators were making progress. It said Witkoff’s remarks were aimed at applying pressure on Israel’s behalf ahead of a future next round of negotiations.
The proposed ceasefire would have lasted 60 days during which additional aid would be allowed into Gaza, and some of the remaining 50 hostages held by militants there would be freed in return for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
(Reporting by Maayan Lubell in Jerusalem and Steve Holland in Washington; Writing by Peter Graff; Editing by Alison Williams and Toby Chopra)
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