Hamas says Netanyahu trying to 'thwart' Gaza truce

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — Hamas on Thursday accused Benjamin Netanyahu of trying to "thwart" a Gaza truce deal, after the Israeli premier said the Palestinian militant group has "rejected everything" in negotiations.

The blame trading comes as Netanyahu faces pressure to seal a deal that would free remaining hostages, after Israeli authorities announced on Sunday the deaths of six whose bodies were recovered from a Gaza tunnel.

"We're trying to find some area to begin the negotiations," Netanyahu said Wednesday.

"They [Hamas] refuse to do that... [They said] there's nothing to talk about."

Netanyahu maintains 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 a complete Israeli withdrawal from the area and on Thursday said Netanyahu's insistence on the border zone "aims to thwart reaching an agreement."

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

"We do not need new proposals," the group said on Telegram.

"We warn against falling into the trap of Netanyahu and his tricks, who uses negotiations to prolong the aggression against our people," the Hamas statement added.

US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters that Washington thinks "there are ways to address" the impasse.

Key mediator Qatar said on Tuesday 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 said.

Israel's offensive in Gaza has so far killed at least 40,861 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.

 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.

As part of its campaign, the military has razed neighbourhoods and farms to expand a so-called buffer zone between Israel and Gaza.

Amnesty International said Thursday the policy "should be investigated as war crimes of wanton destruction and of collective punishment", an accusation the military did not comment on when contacted by AFP.

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, with a second stage set to get 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.