Israel feigning negotiations in Doha while escalating Gaza war: Hamas
The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas says an Israeli delegation in the Qatari capital has no authority to engage in real negotiations or seal a ceasefire agreement.
In a statement released on Monday, Hamas said that the continued presence of the Israeli delegation in Doha had been a blatant attempt by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to deceive global public opinion and falsely appear engaged in the negotiation process.
“He (Netanyahu) continues to extend his delegation’s stay day by day without entering any serious negotiations, as no real negotiations have taken place since last Saturday,” Hamas said in a statement.
The resistance group further held the Israeli occupying regime fully responsible for the failure of efforts to reach an agreement.
“In light of its officials’ explicit statements of their intention to continue the aggression and displace our people from their land, in blatant defiance of all international efforts.”
“The escalation of Zionist aggression, the deliberate bombing of civilian infrastructure, and the perpetration of brutal massacres against children and women—coinciding with the release of the prisoner Edan Alexander and during the presence of delegations in Doha—expose Netanyahu’s true intentions of rejecting any settlement and affirm his insistence on war and destruction.”
Hamas says it freed the Israeli-American soldier, Edan Alexander, based on an understanding with the US that humanitarian assistance would return to the besieged Gaza Strip and that comprehensive negotiations to end the war would start immediately.
Mediators in Doha have been working hard to clinch a deal between Israel and Hamas to end more than 19 months of the Israeli genocidal war in Gaza.
Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said on Tuesday that the Gaza ceasefire negotiations in Doha in recent weeks have not led anywhere because of “fundamental differences between parties.”
Hamas said Israel’s closest allies had now turned against the regime’s genocidal campaign in the besieged Palestinian region.
“In light of this obstinacy, the growing international opposition to the aggression and blockade, most recently from several European countries, constitutes a renewed condemnation of the occupation’s policies and increased support for our people’s just demands,” it said.
The statement comes as Britain, France, and Canada have threatened Israel with sanctions over the escalating military offensive in Gaza and the blockade on humanitarian aid.
The UK announced it is summoning the Israeli ambassador in London and suspending its free trade agreement with Israel.
UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy condemned “this Israeli government’s egregious actions and rhetoric. He said the Israeli regime was “isolating Israel from its friends and partners around the world.”
He criticized Israel for expanding its military operations in Gaza and restricting the entry of humanitarian aid.
Elsewhere in the statement, Hamas said Netanyahu’s statements regarding the entry of aid into the Gaza Strip were “an attempt to throw dust in the eyes and deceive the international community.”
International humanitarian experts have warned of a looming famine in the Palestinian besieged region of 2.3 million people.
Since early March, Israel has imposed a blockade on Gaza, having unilaterally terminated the ceasefire established in January and resumed its genocidal military campaign against the Palestinian population in the region.
Israel blocked all aid from entering Gaza on March 2, before resuming a brutal military campaign on March 18 after talks to prolong a six-week ceasefire collapsed.
