‘Israel cannot accept this’: Netanyahu’s vehement reaction to Hamas claim

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reacted particularly vehemently on Sunday to Hamas’ demand for an end to the Gaza war in exchange for the release of hostages, saying it would keep the Palestinian Islamist group in power and pose a threat to Israel, Reuters notes.

Netanyahu said Israel was willing to end the fighting in Gaza to secure the release of hostages still held by Hamas, believed to number more than 130.

“While Israel has shown its willingness (to talk), Hamas remains stuck on its extreme positions, the first of which is the demand to withdraw all our forces from the Gaza Strip, to end the war and leave Hamas to power,” Netanyahu said.

“Israel cannot accept this,” stressed the Israeli prime minister.

“Hamas could carry out its threat to carry out massacres, rapes and kidnappings again and again and again,” Netanyahu said.

His remarks come as Hamas leaders take part in a second day of talks on Sunday, with Egyptian and Qatari mediators, for a truce in the Gaza Strip, with no apparent progress, as the Islamist group maintained its demand that any deal end the war in the enclave, Palestinian officials told Reuters.

A Palestinian official close to the mediation effort said the Hamas delegation arrived in Cairo determined to reach a deal “but not at any cost.”

“A deal must end the war and pull Israeli forces out of Gaza, and Israel has not yet said it is willing to do that,” the official told Reuters, asking not to be named.