Hamas: Israel is not serious about reaching an agreement and is using the negotiations as a cover to invade Rafah

On Wednesday evening, a member of the movement's political bureau, Izzat al-Rishq, accused Israel of being "not serious" in reaching a ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip, considering that its Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is working to "create pretexts to evade the negotiations."

Al-Rishq said, in a post on the Telegram platform: “Israel is not serious about reaching an agreement, and is using the negotiations as a cover to invade the city of Rafah (south of Gaza) and occupy the crossing” that bears the same name.

Al-Rashq accused Netanyahu of "creating pretexts to evade negotiations," noting that the latter "blames Hamas and the mediators (without explanation)."

Al-Rishq considered that “Hamas’ approval of the mediators’ proposal confused Netanyahu and put him in a dilemma.”

He pointed out that "Hamas is sticking to its position that it communicated to the mediators in approving their proposal."

On Monday, Hamas announced its acceptance of a Qatari-Egyptian proposal regarding a prisoner exchange and a ceasefire with Israel.

Although several international parties welcomed Hamas' move, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the formula of the agreement approved by the Palestinian movement, claiming that it was "far from meeting the requirements" of Israel.

On Tuesday, the Israeli occupation army already announced “operational control” over the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing, which connects the Gaza Strip to Egypt.