In a statement published this Tuesday (9), the radical Islamic group Hamas said that the latest agreement proposed by Israel for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip does not meet its demands.
Hamas said it received the proposal through Egyptian, Qatari and American mediators.
While Hamas said it appreciates the effort, the group said Israel “remains stubborn and has not responded to any of the demands of our people and our resistance.”
But the group said it is “eager to reach an agreement that puts an end to the aggression against our people.”
Hamas said its leaders would review the proposal and inform mediators of their response.
Over the weekend in Cairo, US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director Bill Burns presented a new proposal that includes pressuring Israel to release a greater number of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the expected 40 Israeli hostages that would be released during the first phase of a three-phase ceasefire agreement.
Israel said it was interested in reaching a prisoner-hostage deal in which it would release several Palestinians held in its prisons in exchange for hostages in Gaza, but was not ready to end the military offensive before invading Rafah.
Hamas wants any agreement that guarantees an end to the Israeli military offensive, removes Israeli forces from Gaza and allows displaced people to return to their homes in the enclave.
Rafah is the last refuge for Palestinian civilians displaced by Israel's relentless bombings that have destroyed their home neighborhoods.
It is also the last significant stronghold of Hamas combat units, Israel claims.
More than a million people are crammed into the southern city in desperate conditions, lacking food, water and shelter, and governments and foreign organizations have urged Israel not to attack Rafah for fear of a bloodbath.
“We constantly work to achieve our goals; First, the release of all our hostages and achieving a complete victory over Hamas,” said Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu.
“This victory requires entering Rafah and eliminating the terrorist battalions there. It will happen – there is a date.” Netanyahu did not specify the date.
Of the 253 people Hamas captured on October 7, 133 hostages remain imprisoned. Negotiators said that around 40 would be freed in the first phase of a possible agreement.
(With information from Mitchell McCluskey of CNN ; and by Nidal Al Mughrabi, Yomna Ehab and Nidal al-Mughrabi, from Reuters)
Source: CNN Brasil
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