Israeli television on Wednesday alleged that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has consistently acted since December to “torpedo” a possible hostage deal with Hamas for political reasons, in a report that was forcefully denied by the premier’s office.

At the same time, Channel 12 news blamed Hamas, not Netanyahu, for the collapse of the seven-day ceasefire deal that included the release of 81 Israeli hostages and 24 foreign nationals in late November.

The deal fell apart when instead of the ten living hostages it was supposed to release, Hamas offered to return seven bodies of women and three living captives. Israel was certain those seven hostages — including Noa Argamani, who was later freed during a rescue operation in Gaza — were alive, and senior security officials stressed that if Israel accepted Hamas’s new offer, the terror group would simply shoot the seven living hostages.

Hamas also insisted on listing all the younger women, including Mia Shem, Romi Gonen, and Carmel Gat, as soldiers.

A senior cabinet minister told the network that “coalition threats” from far-right ministers Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich dominated cabinet discussions about finding a way to continue the release of hostages despite Hamas’s games.

“That was the biggest missed opportunity. It would have been right to see the process through to the end, and move to the next category [of hostages]. It was possible to bring the old men who died later in captivity, it was possible to bring Yarden Bibas home on humanitarian grounds,” the unnamed minister was quoted as saying.

The report laid out Netanyahu’s decision to turn down an Egyptian proposal on December 24 and prevent Defense Minister Yoav Gallant from holding a discussion with Mossad chief David Barnea the next day.

There was also the potential for a breakthrough in January with a summit in Paris, said the report, but after Ben Gvir threatened to bring down the government, Netanyahu stressed five times over the next four days that there were obstacles in the talks.

Netanyahu continued along that line in March, refusing to expand the negotiators’ mandate. The report cited a former associate of Netanyahu, who argued that when the premier wants a deal, he doesn’t speak publicly about his red lines, as he has done repeatedly since US President Joe Biden presented Israel’s proposal on May 31. Channel 12 also said the top security officials were surprised by Netanyahu’s announcement in June laying out his red lines, including around the Philadelphi Corridor along the Egypt-Gaza border.

Netanyahu’s office later issued a statement denouncing the TV report, saying the “false claims” in the media “echo the propaganda of the terrorist organization Hamas.”

The Prime Minister’s Office argued that Netanyahu accepted all of the US proposals, which “completely refutes the claim that he sabotaged any deal for political reasons.”

It noted that Netanyahu sent a proposal on April 27 that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called “very generous”; that he agreed to US President Joe Biden’s proposal on May 31; and that, on August 16, he accepted the US “final bridging proposal,” all of which were turned down by Hamas.

Netanyahu’s office also pointed out that US officials have said repeatedly that there is no deal because of Hamas — though they have also put some of the blame on Israel at certain times.

“Those who want to help in the effort to free our hostages should put pressure on the murderer [Hamas leader Yahya] Sinwar and not on the prime minister of Israel,” it said.

It is believed that 97 of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 33 confirmed dead by the IDF.

Along with the 105 civilians freed during a weeklong truce in late November, Hamas released four hostages before that. Eight hostages have been rescued by troops alive, and the bodies of 37 hostages have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the military as they tried to escape their captors.

Hamas is also holding two Israeli civilians who entered the Strip in 2014 and 2015, as well as the bodies of two IDF soldiers who were killed in 2014.