Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is the main obstacle to peace in the region by continually imposing his demands and demanding new conditions for a ceasefire deal in Gaza, according to Palestinian group Hamas sources quoted by the Turkish Foreign Ministry, who also lament that the US is not putting enough pressure on Israel and is even threatening to withdraw from the negotiating table.
A Hamas representative who is directly involved in the negotiations with Israel under the mediation of Qatar and Egypt, and who was quoted by a Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman, was quoted by several Turkish media as saying that ‘due to security concerns in the region and the upcoming presidential elections, the US may be sincere in its efforts to reach a ceasefire agreement; however, the Americans are not putting any kind of pressure on Israel’.
The Hamas member claimed that the US is not telling the media the truth about the true state of the peace negotiations: ‘It keeps giving optimistic messages, when the situation is not positive at all,’ the Hamas official said. ‘Netanyahu is continuously presenting new conditions (for an agreement). Israel does not want to abandon the Philadelphi Corridor. He is also putting new conditions for the Rafah crossing,’ he said.
‘Every time a new page (of negotiations) is opened, we continually go back to the beginning again and a new negotiation process is started (by Israel’s impositions). Israel is constantly raising the bar (for an agreement). This process is not a negotiation, but an imposition. With this approach, we are losing hope for a ceasefire,’ the Hamas representative said.
‘Netanyahu is not interested in bringing the hostages home’
Negotiations between Hamas and Israel – who do not have direct contact but negotiate through mediators – are currently focused on the Philadelphia Corridor, the Rafah crossing and the exchange of Palestinian prisoners and Israeli hostages. Netanyahu argues that it is vital for Israel to maintain control over the Gaza border to prevent the smuggling of weapons, but this has led to tensions with Egypt and even strong criticism within Israeli political and military circles.
‘The government’s decisions show that Netanyahu is not interested in bringing the hostages home. There is no other conclusion,’ declared Labour politician and former Israeli defence minister Ephraim Sneh. Also, prominent US-born Israeli activist Gershon Baskin told the Washington Post that ‘Israel is trying to sell the (Israeli) public that there are peace negotiations going on (to bring back the hostages), but there are no real negotiations’.
According to the Hamas source quoted by Turkey‘s foreign ministry, the fact that the US has announced that it will continue to participate in the current Gaza peace talks for only two more weeks and that it will abandon them if there is no deal ‘is an extremely dangerous announcement, because it means we would be back to square one’.
‘We have said that we will negotiate within the framework of the 2 July agreements. Netanyahu, however, is going backward from the document (agreed) on 24-25 May and Biden’s plan approved by the UN Security Council. We cannot accept this’, said the Hamas official involved in peace negotiations with Israel, who also denounced the dramatic situation of the civilian population in Gaza, where hunger is common and there is no medicine left: “There is only flour and dry food left, no fresh produce, meat or other food supplies”.
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Edited and reviewed by:
Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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