• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

Gaza ceasefire deal possible but Netanyahu preventing it: Top Hamas official

Iran Press TV

Saturday, 23 August 2025 11:28 AM

Senior Hamas official Mahmoud Mardawi says a comprehensive deal to end Israel's genocidal war on Gaza is possible, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is deliberately sabotaging negotiations and insisting on the continuation of the onslaught.

"A comprehensive agreement is entirely possible, but it is Netanyahu who is preventing it from happening. He wants to continue the war in order to achieve his political goals inside the occupied territories," he said on Saturday.

Mardawi stated that the Israeli leader did not directly respond to the latest proposal from regional mediators for a Gaza ceasefire, and instead made contradictory statements with the aim of wasting time.

"Hamas has agreed without any reservations to the proposals presented by Egyptian and Qatari mediators, which were supported by the United States. However, Netanyahu has refused to send a negotiating team and continues to pursue a policy of stalling the talks and evasion," he noted.

The high-profile Hamas member emphasized that his group does not oppose any plan that would result in the cessation of Israeli atrocities, the release of Israeli captives in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, unrestricted entry of humanitarian aid, and reconstruction of Gaza with a fully Palestinian approach.

Mardawi also pointed out that the Israeli Channel 10 television channel has documented in its reports that Netanyahu has thwarted efforts to reach an agreement five times so far.

The US State Department has also acknowledged that the 75-year-old leader of the right-wing Likud political party is preventing any agreement, and insists on prolonging the Gaza war, he continued.

The senior Hamas official took a swipe at Israel for implementing a systematic policy of starvation and raging thirst against Palestinians in Gaza, emphasizing that the regime's minister of military affairs, Israel Katz, along with a number of other officials, have explicitly stated they have put the strategy high on their agenda.

"The Zionist regime is preventing aid convoys from entering the Gaza Strip and obstructing their distribution process. It has also established an institution called the Gaza Humanitarian Organization, which is in fact a terrorist organization that massacres innocent people seeking aid," Mardawi said.

He added that the occupying regime bombed food warehouses, water wells, and storage tanks, and also targeted civilians who had gathered to receive small portions of humanitarian aid. All this has led to an escalation of the humanitarian disaster in the war-battered region.

Mardawi added that the United Nations has officially confirmed the spread of famine in Gaza, which marks a complete and comprehensive condemnation of the occupying Tel Aviv regime, which uses hunger as a tool to blackmail Palestinians and extract political concessions.

The senior Hamas member called on the international community not to be satisfied with mere reports, but to fulfill its legal and humanitarian responsibility by taking practical and immediate measures to stop the famine and genocide against Palestinians.

"The world is facing a real test of humanity and civilization. The occupying regime must be punished for its crimes in Gaza. It is also necessary to pressure the US to stop supporting Netanyahu's policies," Mardawi said.

At least 62,622 Palestinians have been killed, mostly women and children, and another 157,673 individuals injured in the brutal Israeli onslaught on Gaza since October 7, 2023, according to the health ministry of Gaza.