• Washington unseals ‘terrorism’ charges against Hamas leaders
• Greta Thunberg detained by Danish police at pro-Palestinian protest

JERUSALEM: The United States has said it is time to “finalise” a deal between Israel and Hamas to end the Gaza war, after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s refusal to bow to pressure.

Washington would work “over the coming days” with fellow mediators Egypt and Qatar “to push for a final agreement,” said US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller on Tuesday.

He was speaking after Netanyahu rejected “concessions” in indirect negotiations with Hamas, despite growing domestic and international pressure following the recovery by Israel’s military of six killed prisoners from the war-ravaged Palestinian territory.

“It is time to finalise that deal,” Miller said.

The United States on Tuesday unsealed a raft of “terrorism” and other charges against six Hamas leaders related to the group’s October 7 attack on Israel which sparked the war in Gaza.

Those targeted in the February charges include Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar and his predecessor Ismail Haniyeh, who had been engaged in truce talks when he was killed in July in an attack blamed on Israel.

UN human rights chief Volker Turk called for an “independent, impartial and transparent investigation” into reports that the six captives recovered dead from Gaza had been summarily executed.

Despite increasing grief and fury among Israelis, who have taken to the streets to pressure the government and express concern for the fate of the hostages, Netanyahu said he would “not give in to pressure”.

Philadelphi Corridor

The Israeli premier on Monday said “the achievement of the war’s objectives” requires control of the Philadelphi Corridor along the Gaza-Egypt border, to stop Hamas from rearming.

Egypt on Tuesday rejected accusations its Gaza border was being used to arm Hamas, accusing Netanyahu of seeking to “distract Israeli public opinion and obstruct reaching a ceasefire deal”.

Saudi Arabia backed Cairo and expressed its “strong condemnation and denunciation of the Israeli statements regarding the Philadelphi Corridor”, in a foreign ministry statement.

US President Joe Biden, meeting with negotiators, replied “no” when asked if he thought Netanyahu was doing enough to secure a hostage deal.

Hamas has long demanded a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, and Egyptian officials have objected to an Israeli military presence on the border.

Netanyahu “wants to occupy Gaza on some level indefinitely” and was now “just saying it more openly”, analyst Mairav Zonszein told AFP.

Activist detained

Danish police detained activist Greta Thunberg at a Copenhagen protest against the war in Gaza and Israel’s occupation of the West Bank on Wednesday, a spokesperson for the organisers of the demonstration said.

Thunberg was later released from detention, according to Danish media reports, and the daily Ekstra Bladet showed video footage of her walking out of a police station.

Six people had been detained at Copenhagen University after about 20 people blocked the entrance to a building and three entered, a police spokesperson said without commenting on individual detainees.

Widely known for her campaign to end man-made climate change, Swedish-born Thunberg has increasingly taken up the Palestinian cause and said in May such protests “should be everywhere”.

Published in Dawn, September 5th, 2024