Hamas has said a ceasefire deal must result in a permanent end to Israel’s war on Gaza, accusing the United States of “merely buying time for Israel to continue its genocide” by proposing an amended accord.
As the Palestinian group revealed details of Israel’s new conditions, it urged the world to pressure Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to sign the deal proposed by US President Joe Biden on May 31 and backed by the United Nations Security Council on June 11.
“The Israelis have retreated from issues included in Biden’s proposal. Netanyahu’s talk about agreeing to an updated proposal indicates that the US administration has failed to convince him to accept the previous agreement,” Hamas spokesman Osama Hamdan told Al Jazeera on Monday.
On Tuesday, Biden said Hamas was “backing away” from the deal agreed to by Israel.
Hamas reacted to Biden’s comments, saying they were “misleading”, stressing that it was eager to reach a deal but the new provisions contradict the earlier framework.
By shifting the terms, the US is showing “blind bias” towards Israel and acquiescing to its demands, Hamas said, enabling it to “commit more crimes against defenseless civilians, in pursuit of the goals of exterminating and displacing our people”.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in Tel Aviv on Monday that he had “a very constructive meeting” with Netanyahu, who “confirmed to me that Israel accepts the bridging proposal“.
Credit: aljazeera.com
