![Fighters of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas in Gaza City, Gaza on November 27, 2023. [Stringer - Anadolu Agency]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/AA-20231127-33040777-33040774-HAMAS_HANDS_OVER_11_ISRAELI_HOSTAGES_TO_RED_CROSS_OFFICIALS.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1)
The Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, condemned on Tuesday claims by US President Joe Biden that it is backing away from a Gaza truce deal, hours after his Secretary of State, Antony Blinken called on the movement to accept the new proposal.
“Israel says they can work it out, they’re prepared,” claimed Biden when asked about the deal. “But I was told Hamas is now backing off.”
Hamas described the statements by Biden and Blinken as “misleading claims” that “do not reflect the true position of the movement, which is keen to reach a cessation of aggression.” They are also, said Hamas, a “green light” for Israel to continue the war against Gaza.
It added that these statements reveal a clear “US bias” towards Israel, and imply Washington’s complicity in a “war of extermination against defenceless civilians in the Gaza Strip.”
Hamas denounced the latest American changes to the 2 July agreement, as a “coup” against the previous framework, accusing Washington of “acquiescing” to conditions set by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
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“The proposal recently presented to us goes against what the parties had agreed on 2 July, this is considered an American response and acquiescence to the terrorist Netanyahu’s new conditions and his criminal plans towards the Gaza Strip,” added the movement. “Netanyahu was always the one obstructing an agreement and setting new conditions and demands. We call upon the US administration to reverse its policy of blind bias toward the Zionist war criminals.”
Hamas pointed out that the mediators in Qatar and Egypt know that the movement dealt positively and responsibly in all previous rounds of negotiation. It renewed its commitment to the agreements reached on 2 July, based on Biden’s declaration and the UN Security Council resolution, and called on the mediators to assume their responsibilities and oblige the Israeli occupation to accept it.
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