Netanyahu hinders reaching deal over Gaza cease-fire: Israeli official

By Said Amouri

JERUSALEM (AA) - An Israeli official accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday of not having a desire to strike a deal with the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas, on a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip.

"Netanyahu does not want to reach an agreement at all, he creates difficulties and puts obstacles," Israeli public broadcaster KAN quoted the unnamed official.

The official said it is possible to reach an agreement with Hamas within days but Netanyahu requested a review of a comprehensive deal, contrary to the Egyptian offer to hinder reaching a deal.

Netanyahu's office has yet to comment.

Earlier Friday, a top Egyptian security delegation arrived in Tel Aviv to discuss a possible cease-fire, according to Egyptian and Israeli media.

Tel Aviv believes 134 Israelis are being held in Gaza, while Israel is holding 9,000 Palestinians in its jails.

Indirect talks between Israel and Hamas are taking place in Cairo and Doha to reach a deal that includes a prisoner swap under which the Israeli captives would be released in exchange for the release of Palestinians from Israeli jails.

No breakthroughs have been made, however, amid mutual accusations of being responsible for the failure to reach a prisoner swap and cease-fire.

Israel has waged a brutal offensive on Gaza since a cross-border attack by Hamas on Oct. 7 which killed less than 1,200 people.

More than 34,000 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, while vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins, and 85% of the enclave’s population has been forced into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar