Posted on 05/06/24
| News Source: Arutz-7
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday responded to claims by Hamas official Moussa Abu Marzouk and an anonymous Israeli official, who alleged that Netanyahu is responsible for the impasse in talks for a ceasefire-prisoner swap deal.
In a statement, the PM's Office stressed: "The claim that Prime Minister Netanyahu, and not Hamas, torpedoed the hostage release deal is a complete lie and intentionally misleading to the public."
"The truth is the exact opposite: Hamas are the ones who torpedo every deal, by refusing to budge a millimeter from its extreme demands that any Israeli government in Israel would be unable to accept - first and foremost, that Israel completely withdraw from Gaza and end the war - something which will allow Hamas to renew its military control of Gaza and reorganize for the next October 7ths, as it promised to do."
Earlier, Abu Marzouk and an unnamed Israeli official claimed to The New York Times that Netanyahu was at fault for the impasse and lack of progress.
In a phone interview with the Times, Abu Marzouk claimed, "We were very close, but Netanyahu’s narrow-mindedness aborted an agreement." He also insisted that any ceasefire "needs to be permanent and fixed" and that Netanyahu's end goal is a deal which would allow a Rafah operation at its conclusion.
The Israeli official who spoke to the Times backed Abu Marzouk's statements, claiming that Israel and Hamas are now playing a "blame game" and that Hamas was close to agreeing to a deal a few days ago. The official, like Abu Marzouk himself, alleged that Netanyahu's promise that Israel will invade Rafah with or without a deal pushed Hamas to toughen its stance so as to ensure that its last four battalions, currently ensconced in Rafah, would remain untouched.