Hamas spokesman Osama Hamdan accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of obstructing mediator efforts after Israel rejected a cease-fire offer that Hamas accepted on Monday.
advertisementPrime Minister Hamdan warned at a press conference held in Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, that there will be no ceasefire agreement if Israel continues its military offensive in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip.
”We believe that the ball is being put first in Netanyahu and his extremist government’s court and that their actions since the announcement of the movement’s (ceasefire) agreement reflect the determination of these criminals to thwart all efforts of mediators, including the US administration. I emphasize. “Hamdan said.
He also urged Washington to implement the ceasefire agreement and honor its commitments to do so.
Israel claimed the deal failed to meet its key demands.
Hamdan’s comments came as a delegation from Hamas, which runs the Gaza Strip, arrived in Cairo to continue ceasefire talks and Israel’s war cabinet agreed to pursue a military operation in Rafah.
Israeli government spokesman David Mencer said the incursion was “the beginning of our mission to eliminate the last four Hamas brigades” in Gaza.
”We are not saying this will be the complete destruction of Hamas. “Hamas will still exist, but it will not be as organized as it is now,” Menser said.
Israel’s capture of the Rafah border gives it full control over the entry and exit of people and goods for the first time since it withdrew soldiers and settlers from Gaza in 2005. But it has long cooperated with Egypt to maintain a blockade of coastal areas.
Osama Hamdan said the move was “a crime and a serious escalation of civilian facilities protected by international law.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the capture of Doha was an “important step” in dismantling Hamas’ military and governing capacity.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Israel would ‘deepen’ Operation Rafah if hostage deal talks fail.
The United Nations has warned that aid flows to Palestinians are likely to collapse due to the closure of Rafah and Kerem Shalom, another key crossing to Gaza, as officials say northern Gaza is experiencing a “full-blown famine.”
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the operation on the Gaza-Egypt border east of Rafah was not a full-scale invasion of the city, which President Joe Biden has repeatedly warned about on humanitarian grounds. He said Israel described it as an “operation of limited scale and duration” aimed at interdicting arms smuggling by Hamas.
Kirby also expressed optimism about the negotiations, saying Israel and Hamas “should be able to close the remaining gaps” to complete an agreement, without giving a timetable.
Meanwhile, Palestinians in Rafah mourned the loss of loved ones to Israeli airstrikes in the southernmost city of Gaza, where 1.4 million people are sheltering.
At least 23 Palestinians, including six women and five children, had been killed in multiple Israeli airstrikes overnight as of Tuesday, according to hospital records seen by The Associated Press.
The bodies of the deceased were taken to Merwani Hospital in Rafah.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said a woman was injured Tuesday in an attack by Israeli forces near a refugee camp in central Gaza. She was taken to hospital in her ambulance after sustaining injuries east of the Alma Ghazi refugee camp.
advertisementRelatives of hostages held in Gaza joined activists on Tuesday outside the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv, raising red-painted hands and demanding the prisoners’ immediate release.
There are 132 hostages being held in Gaza, 128 of whom were kidnapped in an Israeli Hamas attack on October 7.
Israeli operations against the militant group have since killed more than 34,262 Palestinians.
