No deal with Israel without cessation of hostilities: Hamas
Last Updated on May 5, 2024 2:57 am
Gaza’s health system has already collapsed after seven months of indiscriminate attacks. Along with this, a severe humanitarian crisis has arisen in this blockaded territory. In this situation, all efforts are being made to ensure a ceasefire in Gaza. However, the Palestinian independence armed group Hamas has said that it will not agree to any kind of ceasefire without an end to the fighting in Gaza.
Although Hamas has agreed to negotiate a cease-fire with Israel, various media have claimed that a cease-fire may be announced at any time.
A senior Hamas official confirmed this information on Saturday midnight.
He said Hamas would “in no way agree” to any proposal for a cease-fire in Gaza that did not explicitly include a complete end to the fighting.
The Hamas official, who did not want to be named, condemned only the effort to release Israeli prisoners “without adding the issue of ending the aggression in Gaza.”
The Hamas official said, “Hamas will not under any circumstances agree to an agreement that does not clearly include a cessation of hostilities in Gaza.” There will be no deal without a complete end to the war and the withdrawal of occupying Israeli forces from the entire Gaza Strip.
Earlier on Saturday, a high-ranking Israeli official said that Hamas’s demand to end the war “dooms the possibility of reaching an agreement (on a cease-fire).
The statements by two Hamas and Israeli officials came as Hamas negotiators traveled to Egypt on Saturday to discuss a proposed ceasefire in the nearly seven-month war.
Mediators from Egypt, Qatar and the United States are awaiting a response from Hamas on a possible deal proposal, according to reports released by Britain. The truce will see a 40-day cessation of hostilities and an exchange of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons for prisoners held in Gaza.
A Hamas official said the day’s talks ended without “any progress”.
The official said Hamas had requested that the agreement include a clear and unambiguous provision calling for a “full and permanent cease-fire agreement” and that Israel had so far not complied.