Gaza City, Palestinian Territories – Palestinian militant group Hamas on Thursday accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose government was debating expanding military operations in Gaza, of sacrificing the Israeli hostages held there.
“In response to the remarks made by war criminal… Benjamin Netanyahu, in his interview with Fox News… What he is planning is a continuation of a policy of genocide and forced displacement, through the perpetration of further crimes against our Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip,” Hamas said.
The group, whose October 7, 2023 attack on Israel triggered the war, accused Netanyahu of “backtracking on the negotiation track”.
Indirect talks with Hamas seeking a truce and hostage release deal broke down in late July.
During Hamas’s 2023 attack on southern Israel, militants seized 251 hostages. Forty-nine of them are still held in Gaza including 27 the Israeli military says are dead.