Hamas accused Netanyahu and the U.S. of Gaza ceasefire failure.
Hamas, the Palestinian resistance group, has accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the US administration of sabotaging the recent efforts at reaching a cease-fire to the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip and the deal of the prisoners’ exchange. Following this, in a statement on its official Telegram channel, Hamas said that the lives of the captives were on the Israeli military since they were the ones who killed them.
The group threatened to unveil Netanyahu as an agent of deception whose strategies are meant to shift the blame for the current stalemate in the ongoing negotiations. Hamas noted that Netanyahu’s strategy is to engage in deceit and camouflage in a bid to prevent mediators who work on the ceasefire agenda set. The statement also strongly criticized what it referred to as ‘Netanyahu’s bluffing and vile threats to assassinate leaders of the resistance. ’ These threats, according to the statement, reflect the deep and chronic crisis and confusion in the Netanyahu government as it tries to contain the ‘ungovernability’ of the Palestinian people.
The Follow-up Committee of National and Islamic Forces in Gaza also, in its statement, holds the Israeli occupation and its allies solely responsible for the death of captives in the Gaza Strip. In its report, the committee also cited Joe Biden, the President of the United States of America, for bias in his support for Israel while exonerating it of the crimes committed and vilifying the Palestinian resistance for the lives of the prisoners. The committee cited that the resistance was very much worried about the plight of the captives as it respected the religion, moralities, and international laws that it accused Israel of disregarding.
Close-range gunshots and hostages’ death
The Israeli health ministry said that six of the hostages, whose deaths were reported on Sunday, were shot at close range, and their bodies were later retrieved from Gaza. Shira Solomon, the ministry’s spokesperson, stated that the deaths were a result of Hamas fighters who execute the victims 48-72 hours before an autopsy. But Hamas denied this, saying that more people were killed as Israelis continued shelling.
The Israeli military said that the bodies of six hostages were discovered buried in an underground tunnel in the Rafah area of south Gaza, and their identities were confirmed in Israel. The hostages were named Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, Almog Sarusi, Ori Danino, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, an Israeli- American and Alexander Lobanov, a Russian Israeli. Palestinian militiamen captured all of them on October 7, 2023.
This section focuses on the escalation of the conflict between Israel and Hamas, referring to it as a war of narratives where each party accuses the other of aggression and extra-judicial killings. Of course, the result of negotiations and escalation, as well as the lack of a ceasefire, indicate that the situation in Gaza is only getting worse; efforts of the international community to address the issue are met with significant difficulties.
