Hamas rejects Israeli hostage-truce proposal, dismisses Netanyahu’s ‘partial deals’
Terror group’s chief negotiator says Hamas open to releasing all hostages as part of deal that ends war; White House: Hamas ‘not interested in peace but perpetual violence’
Hamas on Thursday publicly rejected an Israeli proposal for a temporary ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, reiterating that it opposes any truce deal that does not lead to an end to the war sparked by 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 also sent a written response Thursday to mediators on Israel’s latest proposal for a 45-day ceasefire. Israel had sought the release of 10 living hostages held by the terror group, according to Hamas.
The proposal also included the freeing of 1,231 Palestinian security prisoners from Israeli jails and the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza. It also 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 had abandoned 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 claimed that Hamas was ready to immediately negotiate a deal to swap all hostages with an agreed number of Palestinians jailed by Israel as part of 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 provided for 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.
Netanyahu has long refused to end the war until 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 if needed in exchange for the release of all the remaining hostages.
Responding to al-Hayya’s announcement on Thursday, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich vowed Israel would 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 thousands of 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.
The Times of Israel Community.