Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday was as clear as he has ever been about how he views a ceasefire and hostage agreement with Hamas.
“There’s not a deal in the making,” he told Fox News. “Unfortunately, it’s not close.”
“It’s exactly inaccurate. There’s a story, a narrative out there, that there’s a deal out there.”
Hamas “don’t agree to anything. Not to the Philadelphi Corridor, not to the keys of exchanging hostages for jailed terrorists, not to anything. So that’s just a false narrative.”
Netanyahu is facing mounting accusations that he has purposefully blocked a deal with Hamas. The Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, citing a document it obtained, reported that Netanyahu in July effectively spiked a draft hostage and ceasefire deal by introducing a raft of new, eleventh-hour demands.
In the Fox News interview, Netanyahu rejected allegations that he has obstructed a deal.
“The obstacle to the end of this war is Hamas. The obstacle to the release of hostages is Hamas. The ones who butchered in a sling, murdering six people in cold blood, riddling them with bullets and then firing bullets into their heads is Hamas. It’s not Israel. It’s not me.”
Netanyahu was also questioned about reports that the families of American hostages still held by Hamas are lobbying the US Administration to unilaterally seek their loved ones’ release.
“I don’t know,” he said. “You know, I don’t judge the families. They’re going through enormous anguish.”