Hamas seized on Netanyahu’s comments, saying his offer for a partial agreement was a “clear rejection” of the proposal outlined by President Joe Biden for a comprehensive three-phase agreement to free the hostages and end the fighting in Gaza.
Netanyahu’s office responded on Sunday night, saying it was Hamas “that opposed a deal, not Israel.”
“Prime Minister Netanyahu has made it clear that we will not leave Gaza until we return all 120 hostages, living and deceased,” he said.
Washington also previously claimed that it was Hamas that was holding up negotiations to reach an agreement.
But the families of the remaining hostages also attacked Netanyahu, suggesting that he had backed away from the US proposal.
A group representing them condemned their statement, which it said “abandoned 120 hostages and violated the state’s moral obligation to its citizens.”
The Israeli leader continued to flout internal and external pressure to reach a ceasefire agreement with Hamas, as well as to reduce tensions on Israel’s northern border with Lebanon to avoid an all-out war with Hezbollah.
His comments raised international alarm, with the European Union’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, warning that the “risk of an all-out conflict involving Hezbollah is real.”
The top US military official also warned on Sunday that any Israeli military offensive in Lebanon would risk provoking an Iranian response that could endanger US troops in the region.
Air Force Gen. CQ Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters that while Tehran already supports Hamas militants in Gaza, it would likely give greater support to the Lebanon-based group “particularly if they felt that Hezbollah was being significantly threatened.” .”
The comments came as Israel and the US continued to clash over arms shipments.
Speaking on Sunday during a visit to Washington, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant stated that Israeli officials were “committed to ensuring a strong US-Israeli alliance” and emphasized that the US was “Israel’s most important ally – and more central than ever. ”
However, Netanyahu on Sunday repeated accusations that the US was withholding weapons from Israel, a claim the Biden administration rejected.
More than 37,000 people have been killed in Gaza, including many children, according to local health officials, since Israel launched its deadly offensive following Hamas attacks on October 7, in which around 1,200 people were killed and nearly of 250 taken hostage, according to Israel. employees. More than 100 people are believed to remain in captivity in Gaza, and at least a third are believed to be dead.
Humanitarian group Save the Children warned on Monday of an increasingly dire situation for young Palestinians, revealing an estimate that up to 21,000 children in Gaza had disappeared “in the chaos of war”.
Many, the organization said, feared they had been “trapped under rubble, detained, buried in unmarked graves or lost from their families” during Israel’s offensive.
Yarden Segev contributed.
This story originally appeared on NBCNews.com read the full story
