Palestinians look at the blood-stained sand following an Israeli military strike on the Mawasi camp for internally displaced people, near the city of Khan Yunis on July 13, 2024. (AFP)

Beirut, July 15 (RHC)-- A senior official from the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas says Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, is undermining ceasefire negotiations.   In a statement released on Sunday, Khalil al-Hayya, the deputy head of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, said Netanyahu is responsible if the ongoing talks fail.

Hayya said the resistance in Gaza will not bow down to Netanyahu's plans and awaits a response from mediators.

Despite challenges, Hayya said the resistance is in a strong negotiating position and close to achieving its goals while Netanyahu faces pressure from multiple fronts.  Hamas said Ismail Haniyeh, the political bureau chief of the resistance movement, has contacted mediators and some regional countries on Gaza ceasefire.  Haniyeh blamed failure of talks on Israel’s changing position and new conditions put forth by Netanyahu. 

On Saturday, Israel killed at least 90 Palestinians, including women and children, in an attack on the Mawasi refugee camp west of Khan Younis.

"The occupation continues its policy of stalling to buy time to foil this round of negotiations, as it has done in previous rounds," Hamas said.  Israel and Hamas have been engaged in indirect talks since January to reach a deal that ends the war on Gaza and swaps Israeli captives with Palestinian abductees.

Hamas has accepted a UN Security Council resolution passed in June which said, "If the negotiations take longer than six weeks for phase one, the ceasefire will continue as long as negotiations continue."

Francesca Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, recently called for the enforcement of a ceasefire in Gaza.