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Netanyahu, for his part, said he was “flexible when I can be” and “when I have to be”.
Jerusalem:
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that Hamas had rejected all elements of a Gaza ceasefire proposal that would have helped free the hostages.
“Hamas has rejected everything … I hope that changes because I want to get these hostages out,” Netanyahu told a news conference, one of the State Department’s statements. Days later, he cast doubt on the possibility of a breakthrough, saying “it’s time to finalize this deal”. .
“We are trying to find some territory to start negotiations,” Netanyahu said.
“They (Hamas) deny doing that… (they said) there is nothing to talk about.”
Netanyahu has come under further domestic and international pressure to seal a deal that would free the Israeli hostages after authorities announced on Sunday that the bodies of six people had been recovered from a tunnel in southern Gaza.
On Monday, Netanyahu said Israeli forces would maintain control of the Philadelphia Corridor along the Egypt-Gaza border, vowing to “not come under pressure” on the issue.
Hamas, whose surprise attack on southern Israel on October 7 started the war, is demanding a full Israeli withdrawal from the area as part of stalled talks brokered by the US, Qatar and Egypt.
At Wednesday’s news conference, Netanyahu reiterated his position on the Philadelphia corridor, saying seeding controls would allow Hamas to smuggle weapons and allow hostages and “terrorists” out.
“You need something to suppress them, to stop them, to put pressure on them to release the rest of the hostages,” he said.
“So if you want to free the hostages, you have to control the Philadelphia corridor.”
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters on Wednesday that Washington “recognizes the real need that Israel has to ensure that there is no trafficking through the Philadelphia corridor,” but said that “we believe that this issue is There are solutions.”
Miller said reaching a deal would require “flexibility on the part of the government of Israel, just as Hamas needs to find a way to finally get to yes.”
Netanyahu, for his part, said he was “flexible when I can be” and “when I have to be”.
– ‘The Whole Thing’ Resolved –
He also emphasized that the debate over the Philadelphia corridor is not the only issue.
He said that these questions are also unanswered: how many Palestinian prisoners will be released in exchange for hostages, whether Israel can veto the release of certain prisoners and where the released prisoners should go.
“The whole matter is not resolved,” he said.
According to official Israeli figures, the October 7 attack by Hamas killed 1,205 people, mostly civilians, including some hostages.
Of the 251 hostages taken by Palestinian militants during the attack, 97 remain in Gaza, of whom 33 have been killed, according to the Israeli military. Scores were released during a week-long truce in November — the only one so far.
At least 40,861 people have been killed in Israel’s retaliatory military operation in Gaza so far, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-controlled territory.
According to the United Nations Human Rights Office, most of the dead are women and children.
In protests in several Israeli cities this week, Netanyahu’s critics have blamed him for the hostage deaths, saying he has refused to make the necessary concessions to implement a ceasefire agreement.
US President Joe Biden said this week that he doesn’t think Netanyahu is doing enough to free the hostages.
Also on Wednesday, an Israeli far-right minister stepped up pressure on Netanyahu to end negotiations for a Gaza ceasefire altogether.
“A country whose six hostages are murdered in cold blood does not negotiate with the killers, but ends negotiations, cuts off the transfer of fuel and electricity, and crushes them until they collapse. is.” Platform X.
(Other than the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
