A senior Hamas official and Palestinian-American businessman Bishara Bahbah denied on Wednesday that there had been any progress in negotiations for a Gaza ceasefire, contradicting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent claims.
Netanyahu told reporters on Tuesday that “significant progress” had been made in efforts to “secure the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.”
Bahbah, who has recently been involved in mediation efforts between Hamas and US envoy for the Middle East Steve Witkoff, said there was no progress at all and rejected reports that he had presented a revised proposal for the latest American initiative, which Hamas had earlier given comments on.
Meanwhile, a senior Hamas official told Al Manassa that “all talk of progress or a breakthrough in the negotiations is false.” The official described Netanyahu’s statements as “false leaks” aimed at appeasing domestic critics and giving hope to the families of the hostages, even though no real progress has been made.
“This is Netanyahu’s usual tactic,” the official added. “He releases such leaks whenever domestic pressure mounts on him, to defuse anger and obstruct any genuine initiative that could end the war.” The official said Netanyahu understands that ending the war could also end his political career.
But the pressures on Israel do not seem to be only domestic. According to Israeli media reports, US president Donald Trump directly urged Netanyahu in a phone call on Monday to “permanently end the war in the Gaza Strip.”
Sources cited by The Times of Israel and Haaretz say Trump rejected a proposed 60-day truce as insufficient and called for a full cessation of hostilities, emphasizing the need to end the military campaign “the sooner, the better.”
However, Trump reportedly stopped short of using US military aid as leverage—despite widespread recognition, including from Israeli officials, that Israel could not maintain its war effort without American support, which has funded approximately 70% of its military operations since Oct. 7, 2023.
Regarding the latest US proposal, the Hamas official said that “Hamas responded positively despite its clear bias towards the Israeli position.” The official emphasized that Hamas had not rejected the proposal outright but had submitted observations.
Earlier this month, Hamas delivered its response to Witkoff's proposal for a Gaza ceasefire. The response included demands for clear, binding guarantees to implement the terms of the agreement and to end Israeli aggression.
The Hamas official said mediators are currently focused on maintaining open communication channels to prevent the collapse of negotiations while awaiting an acceptable framework. “The main obstacle remains Netanyahu, who refuses to offer any serious concessions because of his domestic political calculations,” the official added.
The US, Egypt, and Qatar have been leading continuous mediation efforts to reach a deal to halt Israeli attacks on Gaza and secure a captives exchange. However, no significant results have emerged since a fragile truce broke down, with Israel failing to implement subsequent phases of the agreement.
Hamas is still holding 58 captives, including four Americans. Of those, 35 are believed dead and 22 are thought to be alive, with the status of two others unknown. Hamas recently released dual Israeli-American citizen Aidan Alexander.
Israel resumed its war on Gaza on March 18 after walking away from a ceasefire agreement that had taken effect on Jan. 19. That deal aimed to end hostilities, secure the release of all captives held by Hamas, and initiate a full Israeli withdrawal from the enclave—conditions that Israel failed to implement.
