Netanyahu's new terms delay ceasefire deal, Claims Hamas

Palestinian Islamist group Hamas on Monday accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of delaying a Gaza ceasefire deal and hostage exchange by setting new conditions that mark a 'retreat' from an earlier draft.

The statement came after Egyptian, Qatari and US mediators met with Israeli negotiators in Rome on Sunday in the latest push for a truce in the more than nine-months-old war.

Hamas officials have previously accused Netanyahu of hindering negotiations, but Israelis have made similar allegations. Israeli demonstrators, who have taken to the streets sometimes in the tens of thousands to demand a hostage-release deal, have accused the prime minister of prolonging the war.

"We in the Hamas movement have listened to the mediators regarding what transpired recently in the Rome meeting, concerning the ceasefire negotiations and prisoner exchange," the group said in a statement.

"It is clear from what the mediators conveyed that Netanyahu has returned to his strategy of procrastination, stalling, and evading reaching an agreement by setting new conditions and demands," it added.

The new terms, Hamas said, represent "a retreat" from an earlier draft communicated by mediators.

Egypt, Qatar and the United States have been involved in months of mediation efforts aimed at ending the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

The proposed truce deal would be linked to the release of hostages held by Gaza militants in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israel.

The Hamas attack on southern Israel that started the war resulted in the deaths of 1,197 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

Militants also seized 251 hostages, 111 of whom are still held captive in Gaza, including 39 the military says are dead.

Israel's retaliatory military campaign in Gaza has killed at least 39,363 people, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, which does not provide details on civilian and militant deaths.