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Hamas wants a comprehensive deal to end the war in Gaza and swap all Israeli hostages for Palestinians jailed in Israel, a senior official from the Palestinian militant group said, rejecting Israel’s offer of an interim truce.
In a televised speech, Khalil al-Hayya, the group’s Gaza chief who leads its negotiating team, said the group would no longer agree to interim deals, adopting a position Israel is unlikely to accept and potentially further delaying an end to the attacks that restarted in recent weeks.
Instead, Hayya said Hamas was ready to immediately engage in “comprehensive package negotiations” to release all 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],” said Hayya, referring to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“We will not be part of passing this policy.”
Egyptian mediators have been working to revive the January ceasefire agreement that halted fighting in Gaza before it broke down last month, but there has been little sign of progress with both Israel and Hamas blaming each other.
United States National Security Council spokesperson James Hewitt said: “Hamas’ 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.”
Latest round of talks end with no breakthrough
The latest round of talks in Cairo to restore the ceasefire and free Israeli hostages ended with no apparent breakthrough, Palestinian and Egyptian sources said.
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”.
Hamas released 38 hostages under a ceasefire that started on 19 January. In March, Israel’s military , abandoning the ceasefire after Hamas rejected proposals to extend the truce without ending the war.
Israeli officials say the offensive will continue until the remaining 59 hostages are freed and Gaza is demilitarised. Hamas insists it will free hostages only as part of a deal to end the war and has rejected demands to lay down its arms.
Israeli military strikes killed at least 32 Palestinians, including women and children, across the Gaza Strip on Thursday, local health authorities said.
One of those strikes killed six people and wounded several others at a United Nations-run school in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip. The Israeli military said the strike targeted a Hamas command centre.
Israel has bombarded Gaza since Hamas’ October 7 attack on southern Israel in 2023, in which 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage to Gaza, according to the Israeli government.
Since then, more than 51,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli offensive, according to local health authorities.
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