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Hamas accuses Netanyahu of sabotaging ceasefire, fumes at Israel’s ‘red lines’

Hamas fumes after Netanyahu announces his “red lines” for a ceasefire, including a ban on weapons smuggling to the terror group via Egypt.

By World Israel News Staff

The Hamas terror group is claiming that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is torpedoing ongoing talks aimed at achieving a ceasefire and the release of Israeli hostages from the Strip.

Hamas’ complaint comes on the heels of a public statement from the premier’s office outlining his terms for a pause in the fighting, including maximizing the number of living captives returned, preventing the smuggling of weapons from Egypt to the terror group, and banning terrorists from returning to the northern part of the Strip.

In a post on its Telegram channel, Hamas said that Netanyahu “placing additional obstacles in the way of negotiations as he escalates his aggression and crimes against our people.”

The terror group recently dropped its demand that Israel commit to a permanent end to the war, rather than a temporary pause in the fighting, which had been a non-starter for Jerusalem. That demand had caused previous negotiations to grind to a halt.

By giving up on securing a formal end to the fighting, Hamas said, it had Hamas shown “flexibility and positivity to facilitate reaching an agreement.” The terror group then called upon interlocuters Egypt and Qatar, which have played central roles in the negotiations, to help it fight back against Netanyahu’s “manipulations and crime.”

Hamas’ sudden shift in position comes after a renewed burst of Israeli military activity in the coastal enclave, including a reinvasion of Shejaiya.

The Biden administration has placed the blame for the stalled talks squarely on Hamas, with the American president calling on the terror group to “take the deal.”

Secretary of State Antony Blinken also called out Hamas for dragging out negotiations, saying that they had chosen to stall for time rather than accept an “extremely generous” deal.