“Hamas has rejected everything (..) I hope that will change because I want the release of these hostages,” Netanyahu told a news conference, casting doubt on the possibility of a breakthrough in talks, a day after the US State Department said it was “time to finish the deal”. .
“We are trying to find some way to start negotiations,” Netanyahu said.
“They (‘Hamas’) refuse to do it (..) [Viņi pateikuši, ka] there’s nothing to talk about.”
Netanyahu is under increased domestic and international pressure to strike a deal to free the Israeli hostages after it was announced on Sunday that the bodies of six hostages had been found in a tunnel in the southern Gaza Strip.
Netanyahu said on Monday that Israeli forces would maintain control of the Philadelphia Corridor along the Gaza Strip’s southern border with Egypt, vowing to “not bow to pressure” on the issue.
Hamas, whose October 7 attack on Israel started the war in the Gaza Strip, is demanding the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip in stalled ceasefire talks brokered by the US, Qatar and Egypt.
At a press conference on Wednesday, Netanyahu reiterated his position on the Philadelphia Corridor, saying that handing over control of it would allow Hamas to illegally import weapons and illegally export hostages and terrorists.
“Something is needed to put pressure on them (..) to release the remaining hostages,” Netanyahu said. “If you want the release of the hostages, you have to control the Philadelphia Corridor.”
US State Department press secretary Matthew Miller told reporters on Wednesday that Washington recognizes “Israel’s very real need to ensure that there is no smuggling through the Philadelphia corridor” but “we think there are ways to address” the problem.
A deal “will require flexibility on the part of the Israeli government, and it will also require Hamas to finally find a way to say yes,” Miller said.
Netanyahu said he is “flexible when he can be” and “tough when he has to be.” He also emphasized that the issue of the Philadelphia corridor is not the only stumbling block.
Netanyahu said there was also no answer to the questions of how many Palestinian prisoners would have to be released in exchange for hostages, whether Israel would be able to veto the release of certain prisoners, and where the released prisoners would go.
2024-09-05 11:49:35