Hamas “will not accept any agreement that does not provide for an end to the war” in Gaza, negotiations resume on Sunday

A Hamas official told AFP on Saturday May 4 that the Palestinian Islamist movement would not accept “in no case an agreement [de trêve] not explicitly providing for an end to the war. Negotiations for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip are due to resume on Sunday in Cairo (Egypt). “Benaymin Netanyahu personally slows down an agreement by personal calculations”accused this official who requested anonymity.

Hamas had previously accused the Israeli Prime Minister of increasing comments aimed at “clearly to derail any possibility of agreement”. Benjamin Netanyahu insists that he is determined to carry out a major offensive on Rafah, a town in the south of the Gaza Strip which he considers to be the last bastion of Hamas. He also rules out stopping the war that has been going on for seven months before having wiped out the Islamist movement.

The mediating countries – Egypt, Qatar and the United States – have been trying for months to extract a truce from Israel and Hamas, notably providing for the release of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for that of hostages kidnapped during the deadly attacks of October 7. Hamas official accused Tel Aviv of seeking “to recover its captives without having to cease its aggression on Gaza”. A senior Israeli official told AFP earlier that the Palestinian group “hindered any possibility of agreement” truce, insisting on an end to the war in his discussions with mediators in Cairo.