As Israeli assaults across Gaza resume, Hamas accuses Benjamin Netanyahu of bad faith.
A Hamas official has said Israel must face pressure to comply with a ceasefire agreement it has already signed with the Palestinian group under the auspices of international mediators.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday said he ordered attacks claiming Hamas had rejected proposals to secure a ceasefire extension in Gaza. The wave of attacks across the besieged territory killed hundreds of people and shattered two months of relative calm.
“Why do we have to present proposals while there exists a signed agreement with international parties acting as guarantors?” Taher al-Nono, media adviser for the head of the Hamas political bureau, told Al Jazeera.
“There is also a Security Council resolution. We have positively responded to all the efforts made towards us. It was Netanyahu that has backed down on the agreement. It was Netanyahu who turned a blind eye to it. Therefore, it is Netanyahu, not Hamas or the resistance, that should be pressured to comply.”
Al-Nono added that Hamas is communicating with mediators and international actors to stop Israeli aggression in Gaza.
On Tuesday, Palestinians who had returned to their damaged and destroyed homes after the ceasefire came into effect were also targeted by Israel’s relentless bombing as entire families were wiped out in seconds.
Hamas has said it views Israel’s latest attacks as a unilateral cancellation of the ceasefire deal.
“Netanyahu and his extremist government are making a decision to overturn the ceasefire agreement, exposing prisoners in Gaza to an unknown fate,” Hamas said in a statement on Tuesday.
It called on people in Arab and Islamic nations, along with the “free people of the world”, to take to the streets to protest against the assault.