Hamas yesterday accused Benjamin Netanyahu of trying to “thwart” a Gaza truce deal, after the Israeli premier said the Palestinian militant group has “rejected everything” in negotiations.
The blame trading comes as Netanyahu faces pressure to seal a deal that would free remaining hostages, after Israeli authorities announced on Sunday the deaths of six whose bodies were recovered from a Gaza tunnel.
“We’re trying to find some area to begin the negotiations,” Netanyahu said Wednesday.
“They (Hamas) refuse to do that… (They said) there’s nothing to talk about.”
Netanyahu maintains that Israel must retain control over the Philadelphi Corridor along the Egypt-Gaza border to prevent weapons smuggling to Hamas.
Hamas is demanding complete Israeli withdrawal from the area and on Thursday said Netanyahu’s insistence on the border zone “aims to thwart reaching an agreement.”
The Palestinian militant group says a new deal is unnecessary because they agreed months ago to a truce outlined by US President Joe Biden.
“We do not need new proposals,” the group said on Telegram.
At Israeli protests in several cities this week, Netanyahu’s critics have blamed him for hostages’ deaths, saying he has refused to make necessary concessions for striking a ceasefire deal.
Since October 7, Israel’s offensive in Gaza has so far killed at least 40,861 people, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.
Most of the dead are women and children, according to the UN rights office.
Widespread Israeli bombardment overnight into yesterday included a strike which killed four people sheltering in tents near Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, a medical source told AFP.
The military said it hit a “command and control centre” used by Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants in Deir al-Balah.
In a separate stike in the southern Al-Mawasi area, a missile killed one and wounded several others, Palestinian Red Crescent Society medics said.
While Israel presses its Gaza offensive, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said the military should use its “full strength” against Palestinian militants in the occupied West Bank.
Palestinian medics said an air strike targeting a car in the occupied West Bank killed five people yesterday, while the Israeli military reported it hit “an armed terrorist cell”.
Israel has killed at least 35 Palestinians across the northern West Bank since its assault there started on August 28, according to figures released by the health ministry, including children and militants.
One Israeli soldier was killed in Jenin, where the majority of the Palestinian fatalities have been.
Meanwhile, Amnesty International yesterday urged a war crimes probe into Israel razing homes and farms in eastern Gaza to expand a so-called buffer zone between it and the Palestinian territory.
“Using bulldozers and manually laid explosives, the Israeli military has unlawfully destroyed agricultural land and civilian buildings, razing entire neighbourhoods, including homes, schools and mosques,” it said.
The London-based rights group said the levelling since the start of the Israeli offensive on October 7 “should be investigated as war crimes of wanton destruction and of collective punishment”.
Israel has in several cases said it was destroying “terror” infrastructure to protect Israeli communities living on the other side of the border fence. It did not reply to a request from Amnesty for comment.
An Amnesty investigation, which examined satellite imagery and videos posted by Israeli soldiers between October and May, showed “newly cleared land along Gaza’s eastern boundary, ranging from approximately 1 to 1.8 km (0.6 to 1.1 miles) wide”, the group said.
The expanded buffer zone covers around 58 square kilometres (22 square miles), or about 16 percent of the Gaza Strip, it said.
More than 90 percent of buildings within that zone appeared to have been destroyed or severely damaged, it said.
More than half of the agricultural land in the area showed “a decline in health and intensity of crops due to the ongoing conflict”, it added.
“Our analysis reveals a pattern along the eastern perimeter of Gaza that is consistent with the systematic destruction of the entire area,” said Amnesty’s Erika Guevara-Rosas.
“The homes were not destroyed as the result of intense fighting. Rather, the Israeli military deliberately razed the land after they had taken control of the area,” she added.
“Israeli measures to protect Israelis from attacks from Gaza must be carried out in conformity with its obligations under international law.”
Amnesty investigator Barbara Marcolini said the level of destruction was unprecedented.
“It wasn’t like specific buildings had been destroyed, but entire neighbourhoods and farms completely razed to the ground,” she told AFP.
