Hamas: "No need for new proposals, pressure Netanyahu"

 

Hamas on Wednesday released a statement in which it again rejected renewed negotiations on a ceasefire and hostage release deal and blamed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the failure of the talks.

In the statement quoted by Reuters, Hamas said there was no need for new ceasefire proposals for Gaza and called for pressure to be put on Israel to agree to a US plan that the terrorist group claimed it had already accepted.

Hamas accused Netanyahu of seeking to thwart an agreement by insisting that Israel will not withdraw from the Philadelphi corridor in southern Gaza.

“We warn against falling into Netanyahu's trap and tricks, as he uses negotiations to prolong the aggression against our people,” the statement said.

Hamas’ statement came before the United States is expected to present a new truce proposal aimed at breaking an impasse between Hamas and Israel.

The United States has been pushing an outline for a ceasefire and hostage release deal that President Joe Biden first laid out in May, but Hamas, despite its assertions otherwise, has continuously rejected every proposal that has been presented to it.

The group’s latest statement came after Netanyahu held an English-language press conference on Wednesday evening, in which he stressed the need for Israel to maintain control of the Philadelphi corridor.

"Gaza cannot have a future if Gaza remains porous and you can enable the rearmament of terrorists through the Philadelphi Corridor," he said.

Netanyahu stated that the retention of control of the Philadelphi Corridor was also necessary to secure the release of the remaining hostages. "If you leave this corridor, you can't prevent Hamas from not only smuggling weapons in, you can't prevent them from smuggling hostages out. It's walking distance. It's nothing."

He said that if this happened the hostages would "disappear in the Sinai, and then they end up in Iran or in Yemen. They're gone forever."

Netanyahu added that military pressure is necessary to get Hamas to release the hostages. "So if you want to release the hostages, you've got to control the Philadelphi Corridor."