Israel-Gaza war: Mossad says Hamas rejected latest ceasefire proposal
- Israel says Hamas ‘is continuing to exploit the tension with Iran’ and ‘does not want a humanitarian deal’
- The proposal had been presented to Hamas by mediators from Qatar, Egypt and the United States
Hamas, a militant group supported by Iran, turned down the outline presented by mediators, according to Mossad, the Israeli external intelligence agency.
While Mossad did not directly say the Iran drone and missile strikes on Israel were to blame, it said Hamas’s leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, “is continuing to exploit the tension with Iran” and “does not want a humanitarian deal and the return of the hostages”.
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“We … reaffirm our adherence to our demands and the national demands of our people; with a permanent ceasefire, the withdrawal of the occupation army from the entire Gaza Strip, the return of the displaced to their areas and places of residence, intensification of the entry of relief and aid, and the start of reconstruction,” the Islamist faction said.
The Hamas statement came a few days after Israel killed several members of the family of the group’s chief Ismail Haniyeh in Gaza, raising fears among the families of hostages that it would derail efforts to secure their release from Gaza.
Speaking in Qatar a day after the killing, Haniyeh said his group still sought a deal but accused Israel of procrastinating and evading a response to the group’s demands.
The pessimism contrasts with Israeli officials saying last week there had been progress in negotiations for a truce in Gaza that would include the release of hostages held by Hamas and Palestinian prisoners.
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Foreign Minister Israel Katz said then that the talks had reached a critical point and he “was more optimistic than I was”.
The Israel-Gaza war erupted with fighters from the group attacked southern Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people and abducting around 250.
Around half the hostages were released during a week-long pause in fighting that ended on December 1. It is unclear how many of the remaining 130 or so captives are still alive.
Israel wants to secure the return of hostages seized by Hamas in its October 7 attack but says it will not stop fighting until Hamas is destroyed as a military force. It also says it still plans to carry out an assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where more than a million civilians have taken refuge.
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Hamas said on Saturday it was ready to conclude a prisoners-for-hostages swap deal with Israel that would see the release of hostages still believed to be held in Gaza in return for hundreds of Palestinians jailed in Israel.
The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said on Sunday that at least 33,729 people have been killed in the territory during more than six months of war between Israel and Palestinian militants.
The toll includes at least 43 deaths over the past 24 hours, a ministry statement said, adding that 76,371 people have been wounded in the Gaza Strip since the war began.
Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse and Reuters
