 "A man rides past a banner with pictures of hostages, on the day the bodies of deceased Israeli hostages are handed over under the terms of a ceasefire. Reuters")
In a possible breakthrough in ceasefire talks, Hamas has said that it is willing to release all Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners to end the Gaza war, as it rejected Israel’s proposal of an interim truce.
Hamas’ Khalil Al-Hayya, the leader who is leading ceasefire talks on behalf of the group, said in a televised speech that it would no longer accept interim deals, adopting a position that Israel is unlikely to accept and potentially further delaying an end to the devastating attacks that restarted in recent weeks.
The Palestinian group, instead, offered to negotiate a “comprehensive package” that would release all the remaining hostages in its custody in return for an end to the Gaza war, the release of Palestinians jailed by Israel, and the reconstruction of Gaza.
“Netanyahu and his government use partial agreements as a cover for their political agenda, which is based on continuing the war of extermination and starvation, even if the price is sacrificing all his prisoners (hostages),” Hayya said.
Meanwhile, Egyptian mediators have been trying to revive the erstwhile ceasefire deal between the two warring sides that ended in January, but there has been little progress on that front, with Israel and Hamas blaming each other.
National Security Council spokesperson James Hewitt said, “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.”
Impact Shorts
More ShortsThe latest round of talks on Monday in Cairo to restore the ceasefire and free Israeli hostages ended with no apparent breakthrough, Palestinian and Egyptian sources told Reuters.
Israel had proposed a 45-day truce in Gaza to allow hostage releases and potentially begin indirect talks to end the war. Hamas has already rejected one of its conditions - that it lay down its arms. In his speech, Hayya accused Israel of offering a counterproposal with “impossible conditions.”
So far, Hamas has released 38 hostages under a previous ceasefire deal that expired a few months ago. This was followed by a resumption of the Israeli ground and aerial offensive in Gaza.
With inputs from agencies