Israel and Hamas accuse each other of foiling hostage-ceasefire deal
PM’s office says terror group ‘reneging on understandings already reached’ after Hamas claims Israel adding new demands; Qatar reportedly asks Israel to show more flexibility
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office on Wednesday accused the Hamas terror group of lying about ongoing hostage-ceasefire negotiations and walking back terms it had agreed to, as renewed talks appeared to stall despite previous expressions of optimism by senior officials.
“The terrorist organization Hamas is lying again,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement, “reneging on the understandings already reached, and continuing to make it difficult for the negotiations.
“Nevertheless, Israel will continue tirelessly in its efforts to bring home all of our hostages,” the statement added.
Israeli officials charged Wednesday that Hamas had backed away from a softened stance that could have enabled a ceasefire and hostage deal in the Gaza war, and instead returned to a position that is holding up progress toward an agreement.
The terror group, which started the war with its October 7 attack last year, earlier Wednesday accused Israel of making new demands in the negotiations and causing a delay.
In a statement accusing Israel of derailing the talks, Hamas insisted the ceasefire negotiations via Qatari and Egyptian mediators had been proceeding “in a serious manner” and claimed that it had shown “responsibility and flexibility.”
But Israel, it claimed, “has set new issues and conditions related to withdrawal, ceasefire, prisoners, and the return of the displaced [Gazans to their homes], which has delayed reaching the agreement that was available.”
The recriminations poured cold water on recent optimistic remarks from involved officials as to the chances of closing a deal being mediated by Qatar, Egypt, and the US.
Informed unnamed sources told the Kan public broadcaster that Hamas’s leader in Gaza, Muhammad Sinwar, is even more intractable in the talks than his brother Yahya, the former terror chief, who was slain by Israel in October.
The sources said Hamas was not giving in to pressure to be more accommodating.
Officials speaking to the Israel Hayom newspaper said that Hamas was backtracking after initially appearing to soften its position, enabling a renewed push over the past few weeks for an agreement. They also cite Sinwar’s stubbornness as a key factor in the talks stalling.
“Hamas is effectively backing down from the softening that led to the renewal of the talks, and is once again demanding an Israeli commitment to end the war at the end of the comprehensive deal as a condition for implementing its first phase,” an unnamed senior official told the newspaper.
Both reports said that a major obstacle is Hamas’s refusal to hand over a list of living and dead hostages who would be released during the first phase of the proposed three-stage ceasefire.
The initial stage would see Hamas release “humanitarian” captives — female hostages, children, older men and the sick.
Women, children, and older men would be released first and then, after seven days, Hamas would provide a list of the sick hostages to be released, Kan reported.
However, there is a dispute over which hostages would be considered “sick” as Israel is insisting it include younger men who are injured or unwell, whereas Hamas sees all the younger men as soldiers and therefore prized captives to be held on to for further negotiations.
Aside from the list, other key points of dispute are the number of Palestinian security prisoners that Israel will release for each hostage, and Hamas’s revival of a demand that the ceasefire agreement include the terms for a permanent end to the war, something it had previously backed down from, the Israel Hayom report said.
A senior cabinet minister told the newspaper that Israel expects stronger support from the incoming US administration of Donald Trump and more pressure on Hamas.
Sources have told The Times of Israel that the Qatari negotiators have been asking the Israeli government to be more flexible, with Hamas seeking assurances that Israel won’t return to fighting after the first phase of the deal is implemented.
The Kan sources said the talks have not fallen apart, despite a mid-level Israeli negotiating team returning for deliberations Tuesday night from Qatar where they were being held. If there is progress, another negotiating team will head back to Qatar, negotiators said.
Over the past week, Israeli and Palestinian voices indicated a deal could be reached, saying the remaining gaps between the sides had narrowed, though crucial differences have yet to be resolved.
At the end of last month, The New York Times cited officials as saying Hamas seemed willing to give up on some core demands, enabling the long-stalled talks to find traction.
The war started with the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel, in which terrorists killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 251 people to Gaza as hostages.
It is believed that 96 of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas in October last year remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 34 confirmed dead by the IDF.
Hamas released 105 civilians during a weeklong truce in late November, and four hostages were released before that. Eight hostages have been rescued by troops alive, and the bodies of 38 hostages have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the Israeli military as they tried to escape their captors.
The Times of Israel Community.