Gaza:

Hamas on Sunday again accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of “obstructing an agreement” for a truce and hostage exchange in Gaza.

The Palestinian group said in a statement following the latest round of talks in Qatar that Netanyahu was “fully responsible for thwarting the efforts of the mediators, obstructing an agreement, and (bears) full responsibility for the lives” of hostages in Gaza.

Following two days of talks in Doha between US, Egyptian and Qatari mediators, the United States on Friday submitted a new compromise proposal.

According to Hamas, the proposal “responds to Netanyahu’s conditions, especially his rejection of a permanent ceasefire and a comprehensive withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, and his insistence on continuing to occupy the Netzarim junction, the Rafah crossing and the Philadelphi corridor”.

The latter two places are seen by Israel as important for preventing the flow of any weapons into the Gaza Strip, while the Netzarim junction sits at a strategic point between northern and southern Gaza.

Netanyahu “also set new conditions in the prisoner exchange file and retreated from other items, which prevents the completion of the exchange deal”, Hamas said.

The Israeli premier had earlier denounced the group for being “obstinate” and not sending a delegation to the talks, saying Hamas not Israel should be under pressure.

He was speaking ahead of a visit by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is pushing for a deal.

In its statement, Hamas reiterated its support for a proposal set out by US President Joe Biden in May, which he said was an Israeli plan.

That proposal involved a three-phase deal, starting with a six-week truce alongside the release of hostages taken on October 7 and an Israeli withdrawal from densely populated parts of Gaza.

Hamas officials have on several occasions accused Netanyahu of obstructing an agreement.

Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel that started the war resulted in the deaths of 1,198 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Hamas also took 251 hostages, with 111 still held in Gaza, including 39 the Israeli military says are dead.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive in the Gaza Strip has killed at least 40,099 people, according to data from the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory which does not provide a breakdown of civilian and Hamas casualties.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Washington:

US President Joe Biden said Saturday that a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war was possible as soon as “tomorrow” if the group released its hostages.

“There would be a ceasefire tomorrow if Hamas would release the hostages,” Biden said at a fundraiser outside Seattle, at the home of a former Microsoft executive, after avoiding the topic at three similar events on Friday.

“Israel said it’s up to Hamas, if they wanted to do it, we could end it tomorrow. And the ceasefire would begin tomorrow,” Biden told the crowd of about 100 people.

The president raised the issue after warning Israel on Wednesday that he would stop supplying artillery shells and other weapons if its forces attack the city of Rafah, in southern Gaza, as he deplored the fact that civilians had been killed by the dropping of US bombs.

“If they go into Rafah, I’m not supplying the weapons that have been used… to deal with the cities,” Biden said in a televised interview with CNN.

“We’re not gonna supply the weapons and the artillery shells that have been used.”

Hamas and Israel have so far failed to reach a ceasefire deal despite repeated rounds of indirect negotiations.

Some 250 people were abducted to the Gaza Strip on October 7 when Hamas attacked southern Israel.

Israeli officials say 128 of them are still held captive in the Palestinian territory, including at least 36 who are dead.

The Hamas attack resulted in the deaths of more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

In Israel’s retaliatory military campaign in Gaza, at least 34,971 people have been killed so far, most of them women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)