Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and blamed him for failing to advance a ceasefire deal that would lead to a 45-day pause in fighting in exchange for the release of remaining hostages, Haaretz reported on Sunday.
"Unfortunately things remain very, very complicated. The Israeli delegation decided to walk away from the negotiations over the hostages, thus denying the whole region the opportunity to get 42-to-45 days of calm," Safadi was quoted as having told BBC News on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.
"Netanyahu is determined to continue more killing, more destruction, more suffering," charged the Jordanian Foreign Minister.
He urged the international community to better hold Netanyahu accountable. “Will the world continue to allow Netanyahu to do whatever he wants or will it say enough killing, destruction, hatred, and put us on the path toward peace?"
"The whole world is saying the two-state solution is the only path forward and Netanyahu is saying no," Safadi added.
Egypt has been trying to broker a hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas.
Last month, a broad framework for an agreement was sketched out in Paris by representatives of the United States, Israel, Qatar and Egypt. That proposal included a six-week ceasefire and the exchange of hostages in Gaza for Palestinian Arab prisoners in Israel.
Hamas, however, came back with a counterproposal that demanded the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip.
In addition, the terror group demanded that the hostages to be freed in the first stage would be women, children, the sick, and the elderly, in exchange for the release of all Palestinian Arab women, children, and men aged 50 and above currently held by Israel.
This would include approximately 1,500 other Palestinian Arab prisoners held by Israel, including 500 convicted of murder who are serving life or lengthy sentences.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday night once again rejected Hamas’ demands.
"Up to this moment, Hamas' demands are hallucinatory and of unambiguous implications: defeat for Israel. It is clear that we will not agree to them. But when Hamas wants to stop these hallucinatory responses, we will be able to make progress," Netanyahu said at a press conference.
"We will not stop until we bring down all of Hamas' battalions. The day is not far off when Hamas leaders will no longer have an escape. It is only a matter of time. I say to the world's leaders: Israel will fight until it achieves a complete victory, and that includes Rafah as well. Whoever wants to prevent us from operating in Rafah is essentially telling us to lose the war. I will not lend a hand to this,” he added.
Israel’s Coordinator for the Captives and the Missing, Gal Hirsch, told CNN on Saturday that Hamas' demands for a hostage deal are “delusional” and need to be “close to reality” for a deal to be agreed upon.
“We want a deal very much, and we know we need to pay prices. But Hamas’ demands are disconnected from reality — delusional,” Hirsch said.