Senior Hamas official Mahmoud Mardawi accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of creating “impossible conditions” to prevent any ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip and the release of hostages. On his Telegram channel, he wrote that the prime minister insists on releasing only ten hostages, instead of all 50 remaining, both alive and dead, in a single operation.

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“For months, Netanyahu has been manipulating the families of the Israeli prisoners and disregarding their feelings. He insists on selecting only ten names, ignoring the rest, who could be freed through a comprehensive, single agreement,” Mardawi denounced.

“He sets impossible conditions that guarantee the failure of any deal. He refuses to comply with previously agreed terms. In short, Netanyahu does not want a deal,” the Hamas official stressed. His remarks come just two days after U.S. President Donald Trump said that a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip could be achieved within a week.

“I just spoke with some of the people involved. The situation in Gaza is terrible. We believe that within the next week we will achieve a ceasefire,” Trump said at an event held to celebrate the signing in Washington of the peace agreement between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. However, anonymous Israeli officials denied such claims, according to local media outlets such as the Times of Israel.

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