![Chairman of Hamas’ Political Bureau Ismail Haniyeh holds a press conference in Tehran, Iran on March 26, 2024 [Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu Agency]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/AA-20240326-34101349-34101348-CHAIRMAN_OF_HAMAS_POLITICAL_BUREAU_ISMAIL_HANIYEH_IN_IRAN.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1)
The head of the Hamas political bureau said on Monday that Israeli military operations in Gaza may take ceasefire talks back to square one. Ismail Haniyeh apparently made his comment in a telephone call to mediators, saying that “[Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu and his army will be fully responsible” for a possible collapse of the negotiations.
On Monday, the movement accused Netanyahu of placing more obstacles in the path of the talks to stop the war against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. “While Hamas is offering flexibility and positivity to facilitate an agreement to stop the Zionist aggression, Netanyahu is placing more obstacles to the negotiations, escalating his aggression and crimes against our people, and increasing his attempts to forcibly displace them to hinder all efforts to reach an agreement.”
The movement called on the mediators to “intervene to put an end to Netanyahu’s games and crimes,” and asked the international community and the UN to “uphold their legal and humanitarian responsibilities and put pressure [on the occupation state] to stop the crime of genocide.”
In this context, the movement said that, “The [Israeli] army’s escalation of its aggression against Gaza and its forcing of tens of thousands of residents from their homes under the weight of violent bombing is a continuation of the war of genocide that violates international laws and treaties.”
Netanyahu said on Sunday that any ceasefire agreement in Gaza must allow Israel to continue fighting until it achieves its war goals. He added that the agreement must prohibit the smuggling of weapons to Hamas across the border between Gaza and Egypt and must not allow thousands of “militants” to return to northern Gaza, according to the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth.
Israeli analysts doubted Netanyahu’s seriousness about agreeing a prisoner exchange deal with Hamas and a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
They believe that the Israeli prime minister fears that reaching the potential agreement would end the war on Gaza, leading to the fall of his government due to the threats by his far-right coalition partners who are opposed to any ceasefire deal.
READ: Netanyahu slams army spokesman saying Hamas will exist in 5 years