The political leader of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), Ismail Haniyeh, accused the Israeli Prime Minister, on Saturday, of seeking to obstruct the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip through the “heinous massacres” committed by Israeli forces, according to a press release issued by the Islamic movement.
Haniyeh called on international mediators to act after the two Israeli raids on Gaza, which, according to Palestinian officials, left more than a hundred dead.
Israel said on Saturday it had targeted two senior Hamas leaders, including its military commander.
The first raid, which targeted the Al-Mawasi camp for displaced people in the southern Gaza Strip, killed at least 90 people and injured 300 others, according to the Ministry of Health in the Gaza government.
The second attack targeted the Al-Shati refugee camp mosque west of Gaza City, and the Palestinian Civil Defense reported that 20 people were killed.
According to a Hamas statement, Haniyeh made contacts with representatives of Qatar and Egypt, who are acting as mediators, as well as Oman and Turkey, to discuss the “heinous massacres.”
He estimated that Hamas had a “positive and responsible response” to the new ceasefire and prisoner exchange proposals.
But “the Israeli position adopted by Netanyahu is to place obstacles that prevent reaching an agreement,” according to a Hamas press release.
Mr. Haniyeh also denounced Mr. Netanyahu’s statements as well as the “new conditions and new points” of the ceasefire proposal first put forward by US President Joe Biden in May.
He added, “The matter is also related to the horrific massacres committed by the occupation army today.”
Haniyeh called on the mediators to “do what is necessary with the American administration and others to put an end to these massacres.”
Qatar and Egypt condemned the Israeli strikes.
“Eliminating Hamas leaders allows us to move forward toward the success of all our goals,” Mr Netanyahu said on Saturday.
At the end of this week's talks, the Israeli prime minister set a new condition: that Israel retain control of the territory on the Gaza-Egypt border in order to put an end to the smuggling of weapons to Hamas.
Netanyahu said on Saturday that military pressure from Israel forced Hamas to call for a ceasefire and that Hamas had requested 29 changes to the proposal.
Netanyahu said: “I am not moving away one millimeter from the proposal that President Biden blessed, but I am also not allowing Hamas to move away one millimeter from it.”
