Joe Biden’s optimism about an imminent Israel-Hamas ceasefire is just a bid to keep hostile powers calm and there have been “no improvements”, a spokesman for the militant group has told Sky News.

The US president told reporters on Friday he was “optimistic” and there are “just a couple more issues” that US, Qatari, and Egyptian negotiators have to resolve between the two sides.

But speaking to Sky News’ special correspondent Alex Crawford, Hamas’s spokesman in Lebanon Dr Ahmad Abdulhadi said this was “not true”.

“The Biden administration is trying to show that the environment is positive. But the first round showed there are no improvements,” he said.

“The mediators told us that the disagreed points haven’t been solved and [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu added more conditions on it and made it even more complicated.”

He said Mr Biden’s claims were just to “keep everything sounding positive in the media” and “keep the Axis of Resistance calm and to stop it responding to the assassination and not slip into a regional war”.

The Axis of Resistance refers to the Iranian-led alliance between various Islamist groups, including Hamas.

Israel is believed to have killed Hamas’s chief political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran last month, in what the group described as a “treacherous Zionist raid on his residence in Tehran”.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Read more from Sky News:
Village set ablaze in West Bank
Lebanon pessimistic about avoiding regional war

The two descriptions of the negotiations come amid rising tensions in the region and as fresh Israeli strikes were reported in Lebanon and Gaza on Saturday.

In Gaza, a strike that hit a house and an adjacent warehouse sheltering displaced people in Zawaida killed at least 18 people, including a family of 15 members, on Saturday morning, according to hospital authorities.

Meanwhile, Lebanon’s health ministry reported that at least 10 people, including a mother and her two children, were killed and five others wounded after an Israeli strike hit a residential building in the southern city of Nabatieh early on Saturday.

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said it is verifying the report into the Gaza fatalities and claimed it was targeting a Hezbollah weapons storage facility in Lebanon, adding that it also hit several other “military structures” it deemed a threat in the south of the country.

Hamas comments should be taken ‘very seriously’

Dr Abdulhadi’s comments need to be taken “very seriously”, Crawford says.

She adds that if one side is claiming the other is being “deceptive and manipulative” it “doesn’t seem there’s much room for manoeuvre”.

By contrast, in a joint statement the US, Qatar and Egypt said Washington presented a new proposal that built on points of agreement over the past week, closing gaps in a way that could allow rapid implementation of a deal.

Two days of talks wrapped up in Qatar on Friday night and will reconvene in Cairo next week, with mediators continuing to work on the proposal in the meantime, the statement added.

“The path is now set for that outcome, saving lives, bringing relief to the people of Gaza, and de-escalating regional tensions,” the US, Qatar an Egypt said in the statement.

A statement from the UK, France, Italy, and Germany echoed Mr Biden’s optimism.

“We welcome the fact that technical work will continue over the coming days, including on both the humanitarian provisions and the specific arrangements relating to hostages and detainees,” a statement from the four foreign ministries said.

Israel issued a vague statement saying it appreciated the mediators’ efforts, while a previous statement from Hamas did not sound enthusiastic about the latest offer.

Palestinian health authorities said on Saturday that 40,074 people have been killed by Israel’s military campaign in Gaza in the wake of the 7 October attack, in which 1,200 Israelis were killed.

Related posts:

Tiger Woods shares first photo since car accident two months ago Group leaves cave after 40 days with no phones or contact with friends and family – and most want to go back India records 346,786 new COVID infections in another daily global record Colleague of detained Belarus journalist receives death threats by text Prosecutors begin closing arguments in MH17 trial as court told victims ‘didn’t stand a chance’ ‘I’m defending my adopted city’: Britons ready for fight against Russians after starting new lives in Ukraine Five people rescued from building collapse in China but dozens ‘still missing’ Ryanair accused of discrimination for forcing Afrikaans test on South Africans US launches airstrikes in Syria after drone attack kills American contractor Tony Blair desperate to avoid reports of ‘snuggling up’ to Silvio Berlusconi, files show Australia to vote against ‘voice’ in parliament for indigenous people in referendum Zelenskyy dismisses Pope’s call for Ukraine to negotiate peace with Russia