Hamas has signaled it will likely reject the latest cease-fire proposal backed by the US because it would not permanently halt the war in Gaza, security officials said.
A day after the cease-fire talks resumed on Wednesday in Qatar, Hamas’ leadership continued to show no signs that they will agree to a compromise endorsed by President Biden last week, two Egyptian security sources told Reuters.
Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said Thursday that while the terror group welcomes “Biden’s ideas,” the current deal on the table is too similar to an Israeli proposal that Hamas had previously rejected.
“The [US] document… has no mention of ending the aggression or the withdrawal,” Abu Zuhri told Reuters.
“The Israeli documents speak of open-ended negotiation with no deadline, and it speaks of a stage during which the occupation regains its hostages and resumes the war,” he added.
“We had told the mediators that such a paper wasn’t acceptable to us.”
The US-backed deal calls for an immediate cessation of hostilities in the Gaza Strip and the Israeli military’s full withdrawal from the Palestinian enclave in exchange for the return of the remaining Israeli hostages.
Palestinian prisoners would also be released from Israeli jails as part of the deal.
The deal would then allow more aid to arrive in Gaza.
While the terror group claimed to be amenable to the conditions, Hamas leaders said it also lacked the demands from their own May 5 proposal that called for Hamas to retain control of Gaza.
Israel had immediately rejected that condition, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterating multiple times that the war will only end once Hamas and its hold in Gaza are completely eradicated.
Netanyahu and his war cabinet maintain that military pressure is the only way to free the more than 120 hostages remaining in Gaza, with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant saying that negotiation with Hamas will “only be conducted under fire.”
“We are in a process where we will continue to wear down the enemy,” he said Wednesday.
However, the Netanyahu government is under increasing pressure from the families of hostages and some lawmakers to strike a deal for the return of the Israeli captives first — and destroy Hamas after.
Hamas’ declaration came hours before an Israeli airstrike aimed at a UN school-turned-refugee shelter in Nuseirat, allegedly killed at least 33 people, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
The Israeli military said it conducted a precise strike at the al-Sardi School, run by the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), because it was being used as a base by Hamas. It said the attack took out 20 to 30 terrorists, some of whom were suspected of taking part in the Oct. 7 attack.
The Israeli military, however, has not commented on claims of civilian casualties. It said it had taken “many steps” to minimize harm to “uninvolved people.”
Hospital records verified by Associated Press reporters showed that at least 14 children and nine women were included in the bodies brought in from the school.
Philippe Lazzarini, the commissioner-general of UNRWA, said that about 6,000 people were sheltering in the school when it was hit without prior warning from the IDF.
“Attacking, targeting or using UN buildings for military purposes are a blatant disregard of International Humanitarian law,” Lazzarini wrote on X. “Targeting UN premises or using them for military purposes cannot become the new norm.”
The UNRWA had previously come under fire after 12 staffers were fired over allegations that they assisted Hamas terrorists during the Oct. 7 massacre that left more than 1,200 people dead and some 250 others kidnapped in Israel.
With Post wires
