BENJAMIN NETANYAHU is the main obstacle to a ceasefire deal, Hamas said today, the day after thousands of protesters rallied in the Israeli capital to demand that the prime minister stop sabotaging talks.

Mr Netanyahu’s office expressed “cautious optimism” about a deal as a delegation returned to Cairo to resume discussions, but Hamas said that the Israeli PM has repeatedly introduced new demands whenever agreement is reached.

Its spokesman Osama Hamdan said: “The Israelis, in the two-day negotiations [just concluded in Qatar], rejected the paper, introduced by the Americans on June 24 based on Biden’s initiative.”