Hamas said on Tuesday that U.S. President Joe Biden's comment that the Palestinian group was backing away from a Gaza ceasefire agreement with Israel was "misleading".

Biden, responding to questions on a ceasefire deal, said: "Israel says they can work it out, they're prepared. But I was told Hamas is now backing off."

While boarding a plane after giving a speech at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Monday, he added: "It remains to be seen. We're going to keep pushing."

Hamas said Biden's statements do not reflect the true position of the movement, which says it has been keen to reach a cessation of hostilities.

"The proposal recently presented to us goes against what the parties had agreed on July 2, this is considered an American response and acquiescence to the terrorist Netanyahu's new conditions and his criminal plans towards the Gaza Strip", Hamas added, referring to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is on his ninth trip to the region since the war began, expressed optimism after meeting Israeli officials on Monday.

On Tuesday, Blinken was in Cairo pushing for areas of possible progress on a ceasefire and hostage release deal in talks planned for later this week, with major areas of dispute still unresolved.

The U.S. had put forward bridging proposals that the mediating countries - Qatar, the United States and Egypt - believe would close gaps between Israel and Hamas and end the hostilities that have destabilized the entire region.

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Cease-fire talks approach breaking point as Hamas, Israel trade blame

U.S. efforts to broker a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas showed little progress Tuesday, as Hamas publicly pushed back on President Biden’s criticism that the designated terrorist group was holding back on agreeing to the terms of the deal that Washington is working to finalize this week.

In a statement released to Telegram, Hamas said it “followed with great astonishment and disapproval” Biden’s statements Monday night accusing the group of backing away from talks.

Hamas criticized Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken of “misleading claims”; the terrorist group said it “is keen to reach a cessation of aggression,” but that the U.S. was negotiating with bias in favor of Israel.

Biden told reporters in Chicago following his speech at the Democratic National Convention that “Hamas was now backing off,” and that the U.S. is “going to keep pushing” to achieve a cease-fire deal.

The president’s remarks followed Blinken publicly calling for Hamas to accept a U.S.-led “bridging proposal” to finalize the terms of the cease-fire.

Blinken is in the region for talks with Israeli, Egyptian and Qatari officials to conclude negotiations on a multiphase cease-fire agreement that would halt more than 10 months of war.

The cease-fire broadly calls for an immediate six-week truce, for Hamas to release hostages it kidnapped from Israel during its Oct. 7 terrorist attack and for Israel to release Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

On Monday night, Blinken left Israel, saying that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had accepted a U.S.-led “bridging proposal” to finalize the terms of the cease-fire. The office of the Israeli prime minister released a statement Monday saying that Netanyahu “reiterated Israel’s commitment to the current American proposal on the release of our hostages, which takes into account Israel’s security needs.”

The secretary met Tuesday with Egyptian officials in Cairo and is next traveling to Doha to meet with Qatari officials, who serve as go-betweens in negotiations with Hamas.

Yet Hamas’s commitment to reaching a cease-fire agreement is unclear. The parties have failed to achieve a deal since November, with power concentrated in the hands of Hamas’s top leader Yahya Sinwar, who is believed to be hiding underground in Gaza.

Sinwar, described by a U.S. official as “messianic” and a “psychopath,” reportedly views the ongoing war as a benefit in isolating Israel internationally over the deaths of tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip, widespread destruction and a humanitarian crisis.

Hamas on Tuesday condemned an Israeli airstrike on a school in Gaza City, which it said killed 12 civilians, while the Israeli military said the school was being used as a command and control center by the terrorist group. The Israeli military said that it sought to mitigate the harm to civilians by using “precise munitions, aerial surveillance and additional intelligence.”

Still, Hamas accuses Netanyahu of moving the goalposts of the U.S.-led cease-fire proposal, with sticking points to the deal reportedly hinging on security arrangements related to control of the border area between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, known as the Philadelphi Corridor, and the Netzarim Corridor, a security zone controlled by the Israeli military dividing the north of the strip from the south.

The Israeli chief of the general staff, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, said last week that the military is preparing for different security scenarios based on the decisions surrounding the cease-fire talks, with such decisions including whether to maintain forces in the Philadelphi Corridor or implement surveillance with the option to carry out security raids.

“If they decide that we stay in the Philadelphi Corridor, we will know how to stay there and stay strong. If they decide that we monitor and raid every time we have an indication, we will know how to do that,” he said.

But Netanyahu on Tuesday reportedly told a group of families of hostages held by Hamas that in his meeting with Blinken, he said Israel would not leave the Philadelphi or Netzarim corridors. The families Netanyahu met are part of a hawkish sect of Israeli society that advocates for continuing Israel’s military operation against Hamas over agreeing to a cease-fire deal.

Hamas kidnapped approximately 250 people from Israel during its Oct. 7 terrorist attack — from a music festival, in the street and in their homes and communities — and the group kidnapped soldiers from military bases and in the field. A weeklong cease-fire between Israel and Hamas at the end of November facilitated the release of about 100 people. About 1,200 people were killed in the attack.

It’s unclear how many remaining hostages are alive. The Israeli military said Monday it recovered the bodies of six Israelis who were alive when they were kidnapped on Oct. 7 and are believed to have died in Hamas captivity. The Israeli military also said the bodies were recovered from Hamas tunnels under the southern Gazan city of Khan Yunis, in an area that was previously part of the humanitarian zone designated by the Israeli army.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which advocates for a cease-fire deal, released a statement Tuesday calling on the Israeli government, with the assistance of mediators, to do “everything in its power to finalize the deal currently on the table.”

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Man waving Hamas flag outside DNC says 'every Palestinian supports Hamas,' praises terror group for October 7

A man waving a Hamas flag outside the Democratic National Convention in Chicago declared that "every Palestinian supports Hamas" and praised the terror group for orchestrating the October 7 massacre in Israel.

Fox News' Mike Tobin was stationed outside the convention hall where anti-Israel protesters, many of them masked, swarmed the streets before breaking open a gated perimeter blocking off the venue where DNC attendees convened inside.

When asked about the scene on the ground on "Special Report" Monday, Tobin told Fox News chief political anchor Bret Baier that he encountered protesters representing a number of different causes, but his interview with a man "carrying a Hamas flag" was particularly noteworthy.

"Do you support Hamas?" Tobin asked the unidentified man in a clip of the exchange.

"Every Palestinian supports Hamas," he replied. "Not just me. Every Palestinian."

The man, who wore dark sunglasses and appeared middle-aged, can be seen wearing a cap with the words "Palestine" on it. The Hamas flag shared a pole with a Palestinian flag.

"Do you support October 7?" Tobin asked.

"Yes I do," the man said. "What's wrong with October 7? You tell me."

Hundreds of civilians, including babies, women, the elderly, and soldiers were slaughtered, wounded or captured at the hands of Hamas militants on October 7, 2023. More than 100 hostages, a majority of them civilians, were taken from Israel and currently remain in Hamas captivity. Five Americans are believed to be among them.

When Tobin reminded him that innocent women and children were brutally murdered in the senseless attack, the man, visibly angered, replied, "What is this bulls---?"

Chicago law enforcement has been bracing for anti-Israel demonstrations outside the DNC this week. Thousands of protesters are expected to rally in opposition to the Biden-Harris administration's support for Israel in its nearly 11-month war with Hamas in Gaza.

A masked anti-Israel protester disrupted the DNC welcome party at Navy Pier in Chicago on Sunday, screaming, "You are funding a genocide," after storming the stage and grabbing a microphone. "The Harris-Biden administration keeps sending money to Israel."

As the protester was being dragged offstage, others could be heard chanting, "Free, free Palestine."

On Monday, the Coalition to March on the DNC began a march against the Israel-Hamas war from Chicago's Union Park. At least five additional publicly announced rallies are set to take place in the days leading up to the convention's final ceremonies on Thursday, FOX 32 Chicago reports.

The Chicago area has one of the largest Palestinian communities in the nation, and buses were bringing activists from all over the country. Organizers said they hoped the turnout for Monday's march and rally would be at least 20,000 people.

Chicago, which has hosted more political conventions than any other U.S. city, has been unable to escape comparisons to the infamous 1968 convention where police and anti-Vietnam War protesters violently clashed on live television.

Some businesses boarded up their windows as a precaution, and county courts said they would open more space in case of mass arrests.

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