GAZA CITY, Palestine: Hamas officials expressed surprise on Saturday at US President Donald Trump’s accusation that the Palestinian group “didn’t really want” a ceasefire and hostage release deal for Gaza.
Trump made the allegation on Friday, a day after Israel and the United States quit indirect negotiations with Hamas in Qatar that had lasted nearly three weeks.
“Hamas didn’t really want to make a deal. I think they want to die, and it’s very bad. It got to a point where you have to finish the job,” Trump said on Friday.
“Trump’s remarks are particularly surprising, especially as they come at a time when progress had been made on some of the negotiation files,” Hamas official Taher al-Nunu said as quoted by AFP.
“So far, we have not been informed of any issues regarding the files under discussion in the indirect ceasefire negotiations”, the Hamas official added.
Nunu, who is close to Hamas’s most senior political officials, said he was “surprised” that Israel and the United States had left the talks.
Announcing the recall of US mediators on Thursday, Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff accused Hamas of not “acting in good faith”.
Though not part of the Hamas negotiating team, Hamas politburo member Izzat al-Rishq insisted the Palestinian group had shown “flexibility” in the ceasefire talks.
“The American statements deliberately ignore the real obstructionist to all agreements, Netanyahu’s government, which continues to put obstacles, deceive and evade commitments,” Rishq said.
Both Hamas officials called on the United States to be more even-handed in its role as mediator in the quest for a ceasefire after more than 21 months of Israeli military offensive.
“We call for an end to the US bias in favour of Netanyahu, who is obstructing any agreement”, Nunu said.
The Qatari and Egyptian mediators issued a statement Friday claiming the last two weeks of negotiations had made progress and that the talks would just be pausing to allow consultations on both sides before resuming in the coming days.
A source familiar with the issue said the mediators want to resume talks early next week, Axios reported. Israeli officials say there’s no plan at the moment to send the negotiating team back to Doha.
The deadlock in the negotiations comes as the humanitarian situation in Gaza has increasingly deteriorated, with more and more reports from the UN and other agencies of Palestinians dying of starvation.
After differences to agree on a ceasefire deal, Israel recalled its negotiators, while White House envoy Steve Witkoff said Hamas’ response “shows a lack of desire to reach a ceasefire” and said the US would now consider “alternative options” for bringing the hostages home.
Meanwhile, 9 more people died of starvation in Gaza over the last 24 hours, the territory’s Health Ministry said on Friday.
The Ministry said 122 Palestinians have died in recent days of starvation, among them 83 children.
The Israeli government continues to deny there is starvation in Gaza, but a senior Israel Defence Forces official acknowledged the humanitarian situation in Gaza is “very dire” in a briefing with reporters on Friday, Axios reported.
The leaders of the U.K., Germany and France held an “emergency” phone call on Friday to discuss the situation in Gaza.
“The time has come to end the war in Gaza. We urge all parties to bring an end to the conflict by reaching an immediate ceasefire,” they said in a joint statement.
They stressed that the “humanitarian catastrophe” in Gaza “must end now” and called on the Israeli government “to immediately lift restrictions on the flow of aid and urgently allow the UN and humanitarian NGOs to carry out their work in order to take action against starvation,” adding: “Israel must uphold its obligations under international humanitarian law.”
