Hamas accuses Netanyahu of obstructing negotiations for a truce in Gaza

A Hamas leader accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday of trying to obstruct truce negotiations in the Gaza Strip, devastated after almost seven months of war.

“Netanyahu has been the obstructionist in all previous rounds of dialogue or negotiation and it is clear that he remains so,” Hosam Badran told AFP.

“He is not interested in an agreement and that is why he makes statements […]to frustrate efforts,” he added, referring to Netanyahu’s repeated promise to order an invasion of Rafah, in southern Gaza.

The Israeli leader claims that Rafah is the last stronghold of Hamas commandos and that he will not be able to proclaim victory until there is a ground operation against this city in the extreme south of the Gaza Strip, where 1.5 million Palestinians are crowded, the most displaced by war.

“We will enter Rafah and eliminate the Hamas battalions, with or without an agreement [de trégua]to achieve total victory”, he declared on Tuesday.

Badran reiterated that Hamas is studying with a “positive spirit” the latest proposal for a ceasefire and the release of hostages captured by Islamist militiamen during the October 7 attack on southern Israel, after months of fruitless negotiations.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh used the same words on Thursday and stated that the group will ‘soon’ send a delegation to Cairo, where indirect negotiations mediated by Egypt, Qatar and the United States are taking place.

The statements raised hopes of an agreement to provide relief to the population of Gaza, where Israeli bombings killed 26 people in the last 24 hours, according to the Palestinian territory’s Ministry of Health, mainly in Rafah.

The UN and many countries, including the United States, have expressed fears of a humanitarian catastrophe if Israel orders a ground invasion against this city located on the border with Egypt.

The World Health Organization (WHO) “is deeply concerned about a large-scale operation in Rafah, which could lead to a bloodbath and further weaken an already dismantled health system”, said this Friday the director-general from the agency, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, on the social network X.

– Pressure against Israel –

A Rafah resident, Sanaa Zoorob, reported losing her sister and six nephews in the bombings.

Two of the children “were found broken in their mother’s arms,” she said, calling for “a permanent ceasefire.”

This would be the first truce since one that occurred at the end of November, which allowed the exchange of 105 hostages held in Gaza for 240 Palestinians held in Israel.

Hamas, which has governed Gaza since 2007, demands a permanent ceasefire and the withdrawal of Israeli troops, which Israel rejects.

The truce plan that Hamas is considering includes a 40-day ceasefire and another exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners, according to details released by the United Kingdom.

The war broke out on October 7, following an attack by Hamas commandos that killed 1,170 people, most of them civilians, and kidnapped 250 in southern Israel, according to an AFP report based on Israeli data. Israel estimates that 129 people remain detained in Gaza, but suspects that 35 of them have died.

The country announced this Friday the death of Dror Or, a 49-year-old hostage, and the kibbutz where he lived asked Hamas to return his body.

Netanyahu faces protests within Israel so that his government, made up of Jewish nationalist, far-right and ultra-Orthodox parties, negotiates the release of the kidnapped people.

The offensive launched by Israel in response to the attack has so far left 34,622 people dead in Gaza, most of them civilians, according to the Hamas government’s Ministry of Health.

– ‘Hunger’ –

The humanitarian crisis and the rising death toll in Gaza have sparked demonstrations around the world, including a widespread protest movement at American universities that was suppressed by police.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro announced on Wednesday the severing of relations with Israel and Turkey said on Thursday that it would suspend trade relations.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said this Friday that this measure was taken “to force Israel to accept a ceasefire and increase the volume of humanitarian aid”.

The arrival of more aid to Gaza, where 2.4 million people live who face serious needs due to the siege established by Israel, is one of the main themes. Under pressure from the United States, Israel has increased aid flows in recent days and the WHO said on Friday that food availability has increased slightly.

The American NGO World Central Kitchen resumed its activities this week. The organization had suspended its operations after seven employees died in an Israeli bombing.

“When this kitchen closed, many people were left hungry,” said Zakria Yahya Abukuwaik, an administrator at an NGO center in Rafah.

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