By Jana Choukeir, Nidal al-Mughrabi and Maytaal Angel
DUBAI/CAIRO/JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Palestinian militant group Hamas and Israel blamed each other on Wednesday for failing to conclude a ceasefire deal despite progress reported by both sides in recent days.
Hamas said Israel had set new conditions, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the group of backtracking on understandings already reached.
“The occupation has set new conditions related to the withdrawal, ceasefire, prisoners and the return of displaced people, which has delayed the achievement of the agreement that was available,” Hamas said.
He added that he was showing flexibility and that the talks, brokered by Qatar and Egypt, were serious.
Netanyahu responded in a statement: “The terrorist organization Hamas continues to lie, is reneging on agreements that have already been reached, and continues to create difficulties in the negotiations.”
Israel, however, will continue its tireless efforts to return the hostages, he added.
Israeli negotiators returned to Israel from Qatar on Tuesday night for consultations on a hostage deal after an important week of talks, Netanyahu’s office said on Tuesday.
American and Arab mediators Qatar and Egypt have stepped up efforts to conclude a gradual deal over the past two weeks. One of the challenges has been agreements on the deployment of Israeli troops.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz, speaking with commanders in southern Gaza, said Wednesday that Israel will maintain security control of the enclave, including through buffer zones and checkpoints.
Hamas demands an end to the war, while Israel says it first wants to end Hamas rule over the enclave, to ensure it no longer poses a threat to Israelis.
ISRAEL MAINTAINS MILITARY PRESSURE
Meanwhile, Israeli forces kept up pressure on the northern Gaza Strip in one of the toughest campaigns of the 14-month war, including around three hospitals in the far north of the enclave, in Beit Lahiya, Beit Hanoun and Jabalia.
Palestinians accuse Israel of trying to permanently depopulate northern Gaza to create a buffer zone. Israel denies this and says it has instructed civilians to leave those areas for their own safety while its troops fight Hamas militants.
Israeli strikes killed at least 24 people across Gaza on Wednesday, health officials said. One attack hit a former school housing displaced families in the Sheikh Radwan suburb of Gaza City, they added.
The Israeli military said it attacked a Hamas militant operating in the Al-Furqan area of Gaza City.
Several Palestinians were killed and wounded in the Al-Mawasi area, an Israeli-designated humanitarian zone in southern Gaza, where the army said it was targeting another Hamas operative.
The war was sparked by the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on southern Israel, in which 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage in Gaza, according to Israeli counts.
Since then, Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza has killed more than 45,300 Palestinians, according to health officials in the Hamas-run enclave. Most of the population of 2.3 million has been displaced and much of Gaza is in ruins.
(This story has been corrected to change the day to Wednesday in paragraph 9)