Hamas says Biden remarks 'green light' for 'Israel' to continue war
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Hamas slams President Biden's remarks as a "green light" for "Israel" to continue its actions in Gaza, accusing the US of bias and complicity in the war.
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President Joe Biden crosses his fingers as he answers a question about ceasefire efforts in the Middle East in the Oval Office of the White House, on August 16, 2024. (AP)
Hamas condemned on Tuesday US President Joe Biden's claims that the movement was backing away from a Gaza truce deal, describing his remarks as a "green light" for "Israel" to continue the war.
Biden, responding to questions on a ceasefire deal, claimed that "Israel says they can work it out, they're prepared. But I was told Hamas is now backing off."
While boarding a plane after giving a speech at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Monday, he added, "It remains to be seen. We're going to keep pushing."
In a statement, the Resistance group stressed that the "misleading claims... do not reflect the true position of the movement, which is keen to reach a ceasefire."
It described Biden's remarks—made on Tuesday as the US President was leaving Chicago after a keynote address at the Democratic National Convention—as an "American green light for the Zionist extremist government to commit more crimes against defenseless civilians."
The statement was issued while US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in Egypt on Tuesday for discussions about a Gaza ceasefire.
Blinken, who met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in occupied al-Quds on Monday, will next travel to Qatar, which, alongside Egypt, is facilitating negotiations for a truce in the ongoing 10-month war on Gaza.
Hamas claimed that Biden's comments reveal a clear "American bias" toward "Israel" and imply Washington's complicity in what it describes as a "war of extermination against defenseless civilians in the Gaza Strip."
Maintaining a commitment to the July 2 agreement, it denounced the latest US changes to the plan as a "coup" against the previous framework, accusing Washington of "acquiescing" to conditions set by Netanyahu.
"The proposal recently presented to us goes against what the parties had agreed on July 2, this is considered an American response and acquiescence to the terrorist Netanyahu's new conditions and his criminal plans towards the Gaza Strip", Hamas added, referring to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
"Netanyahu was always the one obstructing an agreement and setting new conditions and demands," Hamas said, calling on "the US administration to reverse its policy of blind bias toward the Zionist war criminals."
It called on the "mediators to assume their responsibilities" and oblige "Israel" to accept the original proposal.
Hamas blames Netanyahu for stalling
On Sunday, the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement stated that the movement has "acted with full responsibility" toward mediators in Qatar and Egypt and considered the proposals aimed at reaching an agreement to stop the aggression in Gaza and to conclude a captive agreement.
Hamas detailed how the new proposal aligns with Netanyahu's conditions, particularly his "refusal to a permanent ceasefire and the complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, as well as his insistence on the continued occupation of the Netzarim axis, the Rafah crossing, and the Philadelphi corridor."
Netanyahu set new conditions for the prisoner exchange and backed down on other commitments, which prevented the completion of the exchange deal, fact established by Israeli media and Israeli officials themselves,
The Resistance movement held Netanyahu "fully responsible for the failure of the mediators' efforts, the obstruction of reaching an agreement, and full responsibility for the lives of his captives, who are exposed to the same danger as our people due to his continued aggression and systematic targeting of all aspects of life in the Gaza Strip."
