A senior Hamas official says there is nothing new in Benjamin Netanyahu’s stance over the Israeli captives in Gaza after the Israeli prime minister told their families that a deal to secure their release could be near.

Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told the Reuters agency that Netanyahu’s remarks made at a meeting in Washington were aimed at calming the families and nothing more.

“Netanyahu is still stalling and he is sending delegations only to calm down the anger of families of Israeli captives,” he said.