A former Israeli negotiator has said Israel missed two opportunities last year to secure a Gaza truce and accelerate the release of Israelis held by Hamas, prompting a swift rebuttal from the premier’s office on Saturday.
“In my view, we missed two opportunities to sign an agreement… in March and July” last year, said Oren Setter, who resigned from the Israeli negotiating team in October, in remarks broadcast on Channel 12 on Saturday.
“We did not do everything we could to bring them back as quickly as possible.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been accused by opposition figures and some families of hostages of not doing enough to secure their release and torpedoing talks, mediated by the US, Qatar and Egypt, for his own political gain.
On Saturday, his office dismissed Setter’s remarks, stating that “his claims that an agreement could have been reached earlier are entirely baseless.”
(AFP)
