A Hamas official said on Saturday that the Palestinian movement, which is currently negotiating a truce in the Gaza Strip in Cairo, will not accept “under any circumstances an agreement that does not explicitly provide for the end of the war”, reports AFP, taken by Agerpres.
Israeli army in GazaPhoto: AFP / AFP / Profimedia
“Our information confirms that Netanyahu is personally slowing down an agreement out of personal calculations,” said this official, who requested to remain anonymous, in relation to the Israeli prime minister, whom Hamas had previously accused of multiplying his statements aimed “in clearly lead to the failure of an agreement”.
Netanyahu has repeatedly stated his determination to launch a major offensive on Rafah, a city in the southern Gaza Strip that he considers Hamas’ last stronghold, and rules out stopping the seven-month-old war before destroying the Islamist movement.
Mediators – Egypt, Qatar, the United States – have been trying for months to reach a truce between Israel and Hamas, which should include in particular a pause in the Israeli offensive and the release of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the hostages kidnapped on October 7 in southern Israel.
The Hamas official, who requested anonymity, accused Israel on Saturday of seeking “to recover its hostages without having to stop the aggression on Gaza.”
Israel’s “stubbornness” could jeopardize the negotiations and Netanyahu bears full responsibility for this,” he continued. “We are eager to reach an agreement, but not at any price,” the Hamas representative added.
A ground offensive on the city of Rafah “will not be a walk in the park and the occupier will pay a heavy price,” he warned.
Israel says Hamas is blocking a truce
A senior Israeli official previously told AFP that Hamas was “making it difficult for any possibility of a ceasefire agreement” to be reached by insisting on an end to the war in its talks with mediators in Cairo.
He also described as “inaccurate” media reports indicating that Israel had “agreed to end the war as part of a prisoner exchange agreement”.
Since October 7, Israel and Hamas have concluded a single truce, at the end of November. It lasted a week and allowed the release of 105 hostages, including 80 Israelis and dual nationals, exchanged for 240 Palestinians held by Israel.
