Hamas slams Israel’s Gaza conquest plan, calls Netanyahu ‘obstacle to agreement’
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Hamas has denounced Israel’s newly approved military plan to seize Gaza City, saying it reflects a “blatant disregard” for ongoing mediation efforts aimed at securing a ceasefire and hostage-release deal.
On Wednesday, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz authorised the mobilisation of about 60,000 reservists to carry out the operation, intensifying pressure on Hamas nearly two years into the war.
The move comes as mediators, including Qatar, Egypt, and the United States, push for an agreement that would include a truce, hostage exchanges, and humanitarian aid.
In a statement, Hamas accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of being “the real obstacle to any agreement” and of showing indifference to the lives of Israeli hostages.
The latest proposal, approved by Hamas, outlines an initial 60-day truce, a phased release of hostages, the freeing of Palestinian prisoners, and increased aid access into Gaza.
While Qatar described the framework as “almost identical” to one previously accepted by Israel, and Egypt stressed that “the ball is now in its [Israel’s] court,” Netanyahu has yet to publicly respond.
Last week, the prime minister reiterated that Israel would only accept “an agreement in which all the hostages are released at once and according to our conditions for ending the war.” Israeli media reported Wednesday that he has not yet convened his security cabinet to discuss the latest plan. His office, however, said Netanyahu had ordered that “the timetables for seizing control of the last terrorist strongholds and the defeat of Hamas be shortened.”
Senior Hamas official Mahmoud Mardawi said on social media that the group had “opened the door wide to the possibility of reaching an agreement, but the question remains whether Netanyahu will once again close it, as he has done in the past.”
An Israeli military spokesperson said the new campaign would consist of “a gradual precise and targeted operation in and around Gaza City,” including areas where Israeli forces had not previously advanced.
Meanwhile, Gaza’s civil defense agency reported that at least 25 people were killed in Israeli strikes and gunfire across the territory on Wednesday, underscoring fears that the planned offensive could deepen the already dire humanitarian crisis.