Hamas: no deal without definitive end to war in Gaza
A senior Hamas official has said the Palestinian group will not agree to a ceasefire if it does not explicitly include a definitive end to the war in Gaza. The official, who asked not to be named, according to the AFP news agency, denounced Israeli efforts to reach an agreement on the release of hostages “without linking it to an end to the aggression in Gaza.”
He said there will be no deal “without a complete cessation of the war” and an Israeli withdrawal from “the entire Gaza Strip.” However, a senior Israeli official said earlier on Saturday that Hamas’s demand for a total end to the war “thwarts the possibility of reaching an agreement.”
The comments came after a Hamas delegation arrived in the Egyptian capital Cairo on Saturday to negotiate a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged Hamas on Friday to agree to the deal. He called that a “no-brainer” for the Palestinian group. “The only thing standing between the people of Gaza and a ceasefire is Hamas,” he said.
