Israel not serious about reaching an agreement: Senior Hamas figure

By Mohamed Majed and Esat Fırat

GAZA, Palestine (AA) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is attempting to "create excuses to avoid negotiations" and Israel is not serious about achieving a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip, a senior member of the Palestinian resistance group Hamas said Wednesday.

"Israel is not serious about reaching an agreement. It is using negotiations as a pretext to occupy Rafah city and the (Rafah) border crossing," Izzat al-Rishq, a member of Hamas’s Political Bureau, said on Telegram.

Rishq said that Netanyahu also blamed Hamas and the mediators for the lack of progress in the talks.

Hamas's stance on accepting offers depends on the mediators, he added.

Hamas Political Bureau Chief Ismail Haniyeh had told Qatar and Egypt earlier that he approved their cease-fire proposals for the Gaza Strip.

Following Hamas's announcement of its approval of the cease-fire proposals, Israel’s Security Cabinet had decided to continue the attacks on Rafah.

The Israeli military in a statement on May 6 had demanded the evacuation of some neighborhoods in eastern Rafah, where displaced Palestinians had taken refuge, and announced the capture of the Gaza side of the border crossing with Egypt by launching a ground attack on the Rafah area the day before.

At least 34,844 Palestinians have been killed, including 14,944 children and 9,849 women, and 78,404 people have been injured in the Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7 last year.

While it has been reported that there are still thousands of dead under the rubble, civilian infrastructure is also being destroyed by targeting hospitals and educational institutions where people take shelter.