JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that more pressure should be put on Hamas to accept a new Gaza deal proposal, after the Palestinian militant group said it was only willing to implement a ceasefire free of new conditions.
The chief U.S. negotiator, CIA head William Burns, said on Saturday that a more detailed ceasefire proposal would be made within several days.
On Wednesday, Hamas’ negotiation team met the Qatari and Egyptian mediators in Doha and reiterated their readiness to implement an “immediate” ceasefire with Israel in Gaza based on a previous U.S. proposal without new conditions from any party, the group said in a statement.
“Hamas is trying to hide the fact that it continues to oppose a hostage release deal, and is obstructing it,” Netanyahu said in a statement.
He said Israel had accepted the most recent proposal, while “Hamas rejected it and even murdered six of our hostages in cold blood. The world must demand that Hamas free our hostages immediately,” Netanyahu said.
The sides have so far failed to reach a deal to end the 11-month-old war, instead trading blame for introducing new demands that have impeded agreements.
Lingering issues include control of the Philadelphi corridor, a narrow stretch of land on Gaza’s border with Egypt, as well as the release of some of the Palestinian prisoners who have been convicted of deadly violence.
The original proposal put forward by U.S. President Joe Biden in May laid out a three-phase ceasefire that would include the release of Israeli and foreign hostages.
The war started when Hamas militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Israeli forces have thus far killed at least 41,000 Palestinians, the Gaza health ministry says.
(Reporting by Maayan Lubell; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
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