A senior Hamas official has once again reiterated a call to release all hostages held in Gaza in one go in exchange for the Palestinian prisoners held in the Israeli prisons, yet rejected Tel Aviv’s proposal for another truce.
Khalil Al-Hayya, Hamas’ Gaza chief negotiator, said in a video statement on Friday that the Palestinian group would no longer accept interim agreements.
Israel, according to the group’s negotiator, was using temporary peace deals to get as many hostages as possible while lacking the serious intent to end the war in Gaza. Israel’s latest proposal involved a 45-day ceasefire and the release of ten hostages held by Hamas.
In return, Hamas was likely to free 120 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences and over 1000 detainees held since October 7, 2023.
Additionally, Israel has demanded the disarmament of the group, which Hamas has said was not possible, and therefore, they reject the latest proposal from Israel.
“The partial agreements are exploited by “[Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu and his government as a cover for their political agenda, which is founded on perpetuating the genocidal war and siege, even if the price is sacrificing all of their prisoners,” Hayya said.
He stated that Hamas was “ready to immediately negotiate a deal to swap all hostages” in exchange for an end to the Gaza war, the release of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons, and the reconstruction of Gaza.
The Israeli authorities have reported that 59 hostages remain in the enclave, with 24 believed to be alive. Dozens of others were previously released through ceasefire agreements or separate deals.
Hayya, said the Israeli side, led by Netanyahu, is not serious about the ceasefire deal.
Similar claims have been made by the regional experts that continuous war with Hamas favours Netanyahu more than anybody between the two sides, as his cabinet ministers are currently being investigated for what the Israeli Supreme Court called the “Qatargate” scandal.
