The Japan Times - Hamas urges US pressure on Israel as Netanyahu says 'no deal in the making'

The two sides have traded blame over stalling talks for a ceasefire and hostage exchange as Netanyahu faces pressure to seal a deal that would free remaining captives, after Israeli authorities announced on Sunday the deaths of six whose bodies were recovered from a Gaza tunnel.

"If the US administration and its President (Joe) Biden really want to reach a ceasefire and complete a prisoner exchange deal, they must abandon their blind bias towards the Zionist occupation," Hamas's Qatar-based lead negotiator Khalil al-Hayya said, calling on the US to "exert real pressure on Netanyahu and his government".

But Netanyahu told US talk show Fox & Friends: "There is not a deal in the making... Unfortunately, it's not close but we will do everything we can to get them to the point where they do make a deal and at the same time we prevent Iran from resupplying Gaza as this great terror enclave."

Netanyahu insists that Israel must retain control over the Philadelphi Corridor along the Egypt-Gaza border to prevent weapons smuggling to Hamas, whose October 7 attack on Israel started the war.

Hamas is demanding complete Israeli withdrawal from the area and on Thursday said Netanyahu's position "aims to thwart reaching an agreement".

The Palestinian militant group says a new deal is unnecessary because they agreed months ago to a truce outlined by Biden.

"We do not need new proposals," Hamas said in a statement.

"We warn against falling into the trap of Netanyahu.. who uses negotiations to prolong the aggression against our people," the group said.

US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby nonetheless said that Washington believes a ceasefire deal is 90 percent agreed.

But he added that "nothing is negotiated until everything is negotiated, and the things that are still in play right now are very, very detailed... issues, and that's when things get difficult."

- 'Not in coffins' -

At Israeli protests in several cities this week, Netanyahu's critics have blamed him for hostages' deaths, saying he has refused to make necessary concessions for striking a ceasefire deal.

"We are just waiting for them to come back to us, to come back alive and not in coffins," said Anet Kidron, whose Beeri kibbutz was one of the worst affected on October 7.

Key mediator Qatar has said that Israel's approach was "based on an attempt to falsify facts and mislead world public opinion by repeating lies".

Such moves "will ultimately lead to the demise of peace efforts", Qatar's foreign ministry warned.

The October 7 attack by Hamas resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people, mostly civilians including some hostages killed in captivity, according to official Israeli figures.

Of 251 hostages seized by Palestinian militants during the attack, 97 remain in Gaza including 33 the Israeli military says are dead. Scores were released during a one-week truce in November.

Israel's retaliatory offensive in Gaza has so far killed at least 40,878 people, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.

Most of the dead are women and children, according to the UN rights office.

Strikes continued across Gaza on Thursday, with medics and rescuers reporting a total of 12 dead in separate attacks in the north and south of the territory.

- 'Full strength' -

While Israel presses its Gaza offensive, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said the military should use its "full strength" against Palestinian militants in the occupied West Bank.

"These terrorist organisations that have various names, whether in Nur al-Shams, Tulkarem, Faraa or Jenin, must be wiped out," he said, referring to cities and refugee camps where an Israeli military operation is underway.

The Israeli military said Thursday its aircraft "conducted three targeted strikes on armed terrorists" in the Tubas area, which includes Faraa refugee camp.

A strike on a car killed five men aged 21 to 30 and wounded two others, the territory's health ministry said.

Eyewitnesses told AFP they saw a large number of Israeli troops storming Faraa camp, where explosions were heard.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said the Israeli military handed over the dead body of a 17-year-old, after medics were prevented from reaching him when he was wounded.

Israel has killed at least 35 Palestinians across the northern West Bank since its assault there started on August 28, according to figures released by the health ministry, including children and militants.

One Israeli soldier was killed in Jenin, where the majority of the Palestinian fatalities have been.

- Polio vaccination drive -

Israel's bombardment of Gaza has left the territory in ruins, with the destruction of water and sanitation infrastructure blamed for the spread of disease.

The humanitarian crisis has led to Gaza's first polio case in 25 years, prompting a massive vaccination effort launched Sunday with localised "humanitarian pauses" in fighting.

Nearly 200,000 children in central Gaza have received a first dose, the World Health Organization said, and a second stage got underway Thursday in the south, before medics move north.

The campaign aims to fully vaccinate more than 640,000 children, with second doses due in about four weeks.

Louise Wateridge, spokeswoman for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), warned, however, that "in the southern area it's going to be more difficult to reach a lot of the population", because not all children are in the designated humanitarian zones -- where Israel has agreed not to strike.

S.Ogawa--JT