Hamas on Thursday publicly rejected an Israeli proposal for a temporary ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, reiterating it opposes any truce deal that does not lead to an to the war sparked the terror group’s October 2023 attack and the withdrawal of Israel’s forces from the enclave.
A Hamas source told AFP that the terrorist organization sent a written response Thursday to mediators on Israel’s latest proposal for a 45-day ceasefire. Israel had wanted the release of 10 living hostages held by the terror group, according to Hamas.
It also called for the freeing of 1,231 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails and the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza.
The latest Israeli proposal additionally called for Hamas to disarm to secure a complete end to the war, a demand the terror group rejects.
Hamas leader in Gaza Khalil al-Hayya, currently outside the enclave, said in a televised speech that Hamas will not be “part of [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu’s policy of partial deals.”
“We will not be part of passing this policy.”
He added that Israel has gone back on the ceasefire agreement it signed in January, and that Netanyahu has set “impossible” conditions.
Al-Hayya, who serves as the chief negotiator for Hamas, further stated that the mediators must contact Hamas to resolve the crisis that he said was created by Israel.
He said that Hamas was ready to immediately negotiate a deal to swap all hostages with an agreed number of Palestinians jailed by Israel within a deal that would end the war.
“Hamas’s comments demonstrate they are not interested in peace but perpetual violence. The terms made by the Trump Administration have not changed: release the hostages or face hell,” said US National Security Council spokesperson James Hewitt in response.
Israel and Hamas signed onto a phased ceasefire deal in January that fell apart after its first stage. Hamas wanted to transition to the second phase as stipulated in the agreement, but Israel sought to rework the terms to free additional hostages without committing to a permanent end to the fighting, as envisioned in the second phase. After Hamas refused, Israel resumed its offensive in Gaza on March 18.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has long refused to end the war before Hamas’s military and governing capabilities have been dismantled. He is backed by many of his hardline coalition partners who have threatened to collapse his government if he agrees to end the war.
However, successive polls have indicated that the government is out of step with the majority of Israelis who back ending the conflict in exchange for the release of all the remaining hostages
Responding to al-Hayya’s announcement Thursday, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich vowed Israel will not give in to Hamas or end the war in Gaza without accomplishing a “complete victory” and returning all the hostages.
“The time has come to open the gates of hell on Hamas, to deepen the fighting until the complete occupation of the Strip, the elimination of Hamas, and the implementation of [US] President [Donald] Trump’s plan for the voluntary exit and rehabilitation of Gazans in another country,” he wrote on X.
Fellow far-right coalition party leader, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, called for Israel to increase military pressure in Gaza “until Hamas is on its knees begging.”
“Hamas will not set the conditions, it will surrender to them! No deal, no ceasefire and no aid, only the continuation of war until the surrender of the Nazis from Gaza,” Ben Gvir said.
The war in Gaza started on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led terrorists invaded southern Israel from the Strip, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages amid acts of brutality and sexual assault.
Terror groups in the Gaza Strip are still holding 59 hostages. Twenty-four of the hostages are believed to be alive, while 35 have been confirmed dead by the IDF. Among the latter is the body of a soldier killed in 2014.