Hamas declares clear rejection of ceasefire
There is supposed to be a proposal for ending the war in Gaza, which Cairo has drawn up. However, neither party to the conflict appears to be willing to accept it. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has declared that he will intensify the attacks. Now Hamas is also speaking out.
The Islamist Hamas has rejected a temporary ceasefire in the Gaza war and called for a permanent ceasefire. "We reaffirm that there will be no negotiations without a comprehensive cessation of aggression," the terrorist organization announced. The Hamas leadership is committed to "a complete and not just temporary end to the massacre of our people", the statement continued.
Hamas was responding to an Arab media report that Egypt had drawn up a plan to end the Gaza war in several stages. As the Saudi TV channel Aschark News reported on Sunday, the first phase would involve enforcing a ceasefire lasting at least two weeks. During this time, 40 hostages held in the Gaza Strip were also to be exchanged for 120 Palestinians imprisoned in Israel.
In a second phase, there should be a Palestinian dialog under the auspices of Egypt in order to "end the division" and form a technocratic government, it was said. This passage refers to the rivalry between the two largest Palestinian groups, the Fatah of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and the Islamist Hamas. Only in a third phase should there be a complete ceasefire and a comprehensive agreement on the exchange of hostages and prisoners, which should lead to a complete withdrawal of the Israeli army from the Gaza Strip.
According to a report in the "Times of Israel" newspaper, Israel's war cabinet wanted to discuss the Egyptian proposal today, Monday. However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said during a troop visit to the Gaza Strip that Israel would "deepen the fight in the coming days". He spoke of a long battle against Hamas, the end of which was not imminent.
Relatives of the hostages boo Netanyahu
In a speech to the Knesset, Netanyahu later promised to free the hostages of the Islamist Palestinian organization Hamas still in the Gaza Strip. However, the Israeli army needs "more time" to increase the military pressure on Hamas. Relatives of the hostages booed Netanyahu several times during his speech and chanted "Now! Now!" to underline their demands for more efforts to speed up the release of the hostages.
The war between Israel and Hamas has now been going on for 80 days. It was triggered by a large-scale Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, in which around 1140 people were killed and around 250 others were taken hostage in the Gaza Strip.
Since then, Israel has carried out massive attacks in the Palestinian territory - with the declared aim of destroying Hamas. According to the latest figures from the Hamas Ministry of Health, which cannot be independently verified, more than 20,670 people have been killed so far.
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Despite Egypt's proposed ceasefire plan involving hostage exchanges and a phased withdrawal of the Israeli army, Hamas in the Gaza Strip remains adamant against any temporary truce. Instead, they demand a complete and permanent end to the Israeli war attacks.
Consequently, the ongoing Israel-Gaza Strip conflict, initiated by Hamas's attack on Israel in October, has resulted in a prolonged war that has now witnessed over 20,670 fatalities in the Gaza Strip, as per Hamas's Ministry of Health's reports.
Source: www.ntv.de
