Hamas says it will not release any more hostages until Israel ends the war in Palestine ahead of ceasefire talks in Cairo.
- Hamas says it will only discuss a permanent ceasefire in exchange for hostages
- Leader Ismail Haniyeh arrived in Cairo for talks that raised hopes for progress
- Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu said Israel will not stop until Hamas is eliminated
Hamas has threatened not to release any more hostages unless Israel agrees to end the war in the Palestinian territories.
The warning came as the terror group’s head landed in Cairo for ceasefire talks.
Ismail Haniyeh flew to Egypt from his home in Qatar – raising hopes that a new wave of releases was imminent.
The militant leader usually publicly engages in diplomacy when progress seems likely. But US President Joe Biden warned last night that he did not expect a deal to be struck quickly, given the wide rift between Israel and Hamas.
Israel has insisted that all remaining women and weak men be released and accepts that in return it may have to release Palestinians convicted of serious crimes.
Israel says all remaining women and sick men currently held in Gaza should be released, and accepts it may have to release Palestinians in Israeli prisons.
Ismail Haniyeh, who heads Hamas’s political wing, has traveled to Egypt for talks, raising hopes that another hostage release is planned
The negotiations are complicated because another Palestinian militant group, Islamic Jihad, is holding some of the 129 remaining hostages in Gaza
But Hamas says it will only discuss a permanent ceasefire in exchange for hostages, rather than a temporary cessation of hostilities, which Tel Aviv will not agree to.
A Palestinian official said: “Hamas’ position remains: they do not desire humanitarian breaks. Hamas wants a complete end to Israel’s war on Gaza.”
Responding to the claims, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: ‘We will not stop fighting until we achieve all the objectives we have set for ourselves – the elimination of Hamas, the release of our hostages and the end of the threat from Gaza. .’
The negotiations are also complicated because another Palestinian militant group, Islamic Jihad, has some of the 129 hostages in Gaza. It said its leader would also visit Egypt to try to bring a possible end to the war. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said the world must put pressure on Hamas, not just Israel, after widespread global criticism of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.
“There seems to be silence about what Hamas could do, should do, if we want to end the suffering of innocent men, women and children,” he said. “It would be good if the world could also unite around that proposal.”
Mr Blinken also said he hoped for a positive outcome on a second UN Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire.
Last night, the Security Council postponed a vote in New York calling for a ceasefire in Gaza as diplomats struggled to agree on the language of the draft resolution. Since the vote was first scheduled for Monday, members have argued over the wording.
The latest version no longer uses the word “ceasefire” and instead focuses on humanitarian access to Gaza.
The bitter fighting between Israel and Hamas has caused growing concern abroad, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel will not stop until Hamas is eliminated.
US President Joe Biden warned last night that he did not expect an agreement to be reached quickly, given the wide rift between Israel and Hamas.
Mr Blinken indicated that the humanitarian issue was the sticking point, with Israel pushing for full control over supplies entering the blockaded Palestinian territory. “The purpose of the resolution, as stated by the countries that submitted it, is to facilitate and expand humanitarian aid entering Gaza, and we fully support that,” he said. ‘We have been working intensively on this. I hope we can get to a good place.”
It came as heavy fighting raged in northern Gaza, even though Israel had maintained it had largely suppressed Hamas resistance there last month. The Palestinian Red Crescent said the Israeli army had besieged its ambulance depot in Jabalia, a northern settlement that has been the subject of weeks of fighting. There are 127 people in the facility, including workers and injured people.
In the south, where most Palestinian civilians are sheltering after fleeing other areas, there has been heavy fighting around the center of Khan Younis, which has been partially stormed by Israeli soldiers.