Hamas accuses Israeli prime minister of obstructing prisoner swap deal

By Mohamed Majed and Ikram Kouachi
GAZA CITY, Palestine/ANKARA (AA) – The Palestinian resistance group Hamas accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday of “refusing all solutions” to reach a prisoner exchange deal.

In a statement, Hamas said it agreed to a partial deal and signaled readiness to reach a comprehensive agreement.

“Netanyahu rejects all solutions and continues to impose new obstacles despite our acceptance of the mediators’ proposal.”

On Monday, Hamas accepted an Egyptian-Qatari proposal for a Gaza ceasefire. Israeli media said the plan involves Israeli troop redeployments to areas near the border to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza, along with a 60-day pause in fighting.

Netanyahu did not announce his acceptance of the proposal, but said Thursday that he ordered immediate negotiations to release all the hostages, while simultaneously moving forward with his plan to reoccupy Gaza City.

“Netanyahu’s decision to approve the Gaza occupation plan after we accepted the mediators’ proposal confirms his insistence on obstructing the deal,” Hamas said.

Tel Aviv estimates that 50 Israeli captives remain in Gaza, 20 of them alive, while more than 10,800 Palestinians are held in Israeli prisons, suffering torture, starvation, and medical neglect that has claimed many lives, according to rights groups.

Hamas stressed that reaching a ceasefire “is the only path to recovering the captives, and Netanyahu bears full responsibility for the fate of the living prisoners held by the resistance.”

Families of Israeli captives in Gaza accused Netanyahu on Friday of obstructing a prisoner swap deal with Palestinians.

Israel has killed over 62,600 Palestinians in Gaza since October 2023. The military campaign has devastated the enclave, which is facing famine.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.