Mediators warn Hamas will bear full blame if ceasefire talks collapse

Sources say Hamas military wing in Gaza delaying response to proposal as civilian toll mounts.

By David Brummer, World Israel News

Efforts to secure a hostage release and ceasefire agreement remain at a standstill, with mediators warning that the blame for any breakdown in talks will fall entirely on Hamas.

According to Israel’s N12 news outlet, while senior Hamas officials in Doha have shown signs of support for the latest proposal, the group’s military leadership in Gaza has yet to issue a response, despite mounting civilian casualties.

“The ball is now in Hamas’s court,” a senior American official told N12, adding that unlike past negotiation rounds, “this time that is not the case” regarding Israeli obstruction.

Mediators from Egypt and Qatar are reportedly pressing Hamas for an immediate answer, with frustration growing over what appears to be deliberate stalling.

“Every day they delay the deal, more Palestinians die from hunger and Israeli airstrikes. We can’t keep waiting for a few lousy Hamas operatives in Gaza to make up their minds. Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed just since they received the new proposal last week,” an anonymous source involved in the talks told N12.

The Jerusalem Post separately reported that Israel has made “significant strides” in negotiations after 12 days of intense discussions in Doha.

An updated proposal was delivered to both sides early Thursday morning, yet Hamas’s military leadership remains silent.

Israeli officials remain in Qatar, though expectations are tempered. “It’s not a matter of optimism or pessimism,” one Israeli official told the Post. “But we must be realistic about Hamas’s conduct. We question Hamas’s seriousness. We are approaching a critical juncture.”

Hamas’s reluctance is partly rooted in its strategic calculations. The terrorist group assumes Israel is politically strained and socially exhausted, making it susceptible to further pressure.

According to analysts, Hamas is attempting to exploit Israeli societal divisions—particularly around the military draft—and capitalize on calls within Israel for a ceasefire, irrespective of battlefield results.

This strategy of attrition is accompanied by efforts to demoralize Israelis, including threats to release documents showing how Hamas claims to have deceived Israeli intelligence leading up to the October 7 massacre.

Abu Obeida, the spokesperson for Hamas’s military wing, recently threatened to publicize such materials “at the right time.”

While the framework for a ceasefire is within reach, Hamas’s leadership continues to gamble that dragging out talks will yield greater concessions, even as Gaza’s humanitarian catastrophe deepens.

Mediators insist that should the talks fail, the responsibility will “lie fully with Hamas.”