FM says Hamas thwarting talks, hints at retaliation over French Palestinian state recognition

In a phone call with his Canadian counterpart Anita Anand, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar accuses Hamas of thwarting Gaza truce-hostage talks and appears to threaten retaliatory steps to France’s announcement yesterday that it will recognize Palestinian statehood, according to a readout from Israel’s foreign ministry.

“The diplomatic assaults on Israel in this sensitive period for negotiations encourage Hamas to harden its stances,” Sa’ar tells Anand, according to the readout.

Sa’ar writes on X that he told Anad that Israel said yes to the framework proposed by US special envoy Steve Witkoff while “Hamas stubbornly hardened its position.”

There was no immediate Canadian official statement on the conversation.

Regarding the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where the United Nations and aid groups have warned of soaring hunger, Sa’ar in the conversation with Anand accused the UN of “not fulfilling its commitments to bring aid into Gaza” and preferring instead to engage in the “de-legitimatization of Israel,” the Israeli readout says.

“I also said that unilateral steps by France and other countries will only push Israel to take steps of its own,” Sa’ar writes on X, without elaborating. “The French initiative harms the chances of achieving a hostage deal and ceasefire.”

According to the official readout, Sa’ar also accuses the Palestinian Authority of inciting against Israel in its education system and continuing to pay stipends to Palestinians detained by Israel and their families.