The only ones responsible for the deaths of Israeli hostages are the Hamas terrorists who murdered them, Israeli Consul General Ofir Akunis told Newsmax on Monday morning.
Israeli forces during the weekend recovered the bodies of six hostages held by Hamas since the terrorists' Oct. 7 attack and massacre in Israel.
Israeli labor unions and several U.S. Democrat lawmakers are among those calling for an Israeli-Hamas cease-fire in reaction to the killing of the hostages.
Akunis appeared on "Wake Up America" to say his government is trying to secure peace and release of roughly 100 remaining hostages but Hamas is preventing any deal.
"The problem is not in Washington. The problem is not in Tel Aviv or Jerusalem. The problem is actually with Yahya Sinwar and his gang … gang! ... in the Gaza Strip," Akunis told host Rob Finnerty.
"Of course, controlled by Tehran, and they refuse to sign any deal, any deal. They want us actually to [retreat] from Gaza Strip."
Akunis pointed out that Hamas has not taken part in cease-fire negotiations.
"They are not around the negotiation table," he said. "We are negotiating between the Americans, the Egyptians, the Qatarians, and Israel. Where are they? They are hiding."
Akunis reminded viewers of the Hamas charter that was written in 1988, when the terrorists defined themselves as a chapter of the Muslim Brotherhood and stated their primary objective was to annihilate Israel and replace it with a Palestinian Islamic state.
"We are trying. We are doing whatever we can actually to bring them home. … This is our responsibility," Akunis said of the remaining hostages.
"The main problem, and the only problem actually, [is] Hamas. Hamas don't want to deal. They don't anything. They only want just one thing, like they wrote in 1988 — to destroy the state of Israel and to actually establish Muslim statehood instead."
The consul general also called on support from the West.
"I think that the Western world, the whole Western world, must put huge pressure on Tehran, Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis in Yemen. As you know, all of them are Iranian proxies," he said.
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Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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