Netanyahu responsible for truce talks' failure, lives of captives — Hamas

The Palestinian resistance group Hamas has accused Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the US administration for the failure of negotiations to halt the brutal war on Gaza and prisoner swap deal.

In a statement post on its official Telegram social media platform, Hamas said that full responsibility for the lives of the prisoners lays on the Israeli army which killed the captives.

The statement added, "The attempts to mislead public opinion led by the criminal Netanyahu through his continued policy of deception and lies, to evade responsibility for the current deadlock in the negotiations, will not absolve him of full responsibility for the ongoing fascist aggression against Gaza and for setting additional obstructive conditions for the mediators' efforts to reach a ceasefire."

Hamas also stated, "Netanyahu’s hollow threats to target resistance leaders emphasise the depth of the crisis he is experiencing and the state of weakness and confusion facing his fragile entity, in light of the legendary resilience of our people against the Zionist killing and terror machine supported by the United States."

'Biased support'

A press statement issued by the Follow-up Committee of National and Islamic Forces in Gaza also accused the Israeli occupation and its supporters for the killing of captives in Gaza.

"We are not surprised by the statements of US President Biden, who, in his biased support of the Zionist narrative, holds the Palestinian resistance responsible for the lives of the prisoners while consistently absolving the [Israeli] occupation of all its crimes against our people and against all human values," according to the statement.

The statement added, "We are not surprised by Biden's expression of sorrow over the deaths of captives, while his emotions remain untouched by the genocide carried out with US weapons, the scenes of total destruction, and the tens of thousands of martyrs among innocent children, women, and elderly people."

The committee affirmed that their resistance and fighters are the most concerned with the lives of the prisoners, based on religious and moral principles, and in adherence to the laws of war and international law, which the Israeli occupation violates morning and night.

'Close-range gunshots'

Israel's health ministry said six hostages whose deaths were announced on Sunday were shot at close range shortly before their bodies were recovered from Gaza.

Ministry spokesperson Shira Solomon claimed in a statement that the six prisoners had been killed by Hamas fighters with several close-range shots. Hamas denied responsibility, saying the deaths were the result of continued Israeli bombardment.

"According to the forensic examination, the hostages' deaths are estimated to have occurred approximately 48-72 hours before their examination (between Thursday and early Friday morning)."

Israel's military said earlier that the remains of the six hostages were recovered Saturday "from an underground tunnel in the Rafah area" in southern Gaza and formally identified in Israel.

They were named as Carmel Gat, who was taken from a kibbutz community near the Gaza border, as well as Eden Yerushalmi, Almog Sarusi, Ori Danino, US-Israeli Hersh Goldberg-Polin and Russian-Israeli Alexander Lobanov, who were seized by Palestinian resistance fighters on October 7, 2023.