Hamas rejects Israel's conditions for extension as Gaza ceasefire

Israel "is trying to reset the situation to zero by mixing the cards" and hasn't given a commitment to fully withdraw from Gaza, Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said

By Sara Gharaibeh, Fadwa Hodali and Marissa Newman 

With the six-week Gaza truce hours away from expiring, Hamas rejected Israel’s conditions for an extension and said there were no negotiations planned over proposals to end the war. 

Israel “is trying to reset the situation to zero by mixing the cards” and hasn’t given a commitment to fully withdraw from Gaza, Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem told Al Araby TV.   

 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who’s voiced readiness to resume fighting if the deal collapses, held an unusual Sabbath consultation with defense chiefs, said Omer Dostri, his spokesman. 

 

The truce under which Israel recovered 33 hostages from Gaza in return for freeing hundreds of jailed Palestinian militants and detainees is due to end on Sunday.

 

Israeli officials have warned in recent days that while they want the ceasefire to continue, to ensure more of the hostages were released, there was a high chance it would break down. Netanyahu has also been under pressure from right-wing members of his coalition to resume fighting after the initial pause. 

 

Mediated by Qatar and Egypt and overseen by the US, the truce was meant to lead to an open-ended cessation of hostilities. Israel, with the support of the previous and current US administrations, want that to spell an end to Hamas’ rule and arsenal. Hamas has indicated willingness to cede political power but not its remaining weaponry.

 

Hamas, which is on terrorist blacklists in the US and much of the West, wants a full Israeli troop withdrawal from Gaza in return for the remaining 58 hostages from its 2023 cross-border attack which triggered the war. Israel also wants to repatriate the body of a soldier who was killed in Gaza in 2014 and has been held by Hamas since.

 

A potential return to fighting will stoke unease over the fate of Gaza following a shock proposal from US President Donald Trump to remove the territory’s 2 million residents and build a “spectacular” Mediterranean resort in the ruined coastal enclave. 

 

Trump suggested Egypt and Jordan should take in the vast numbers of Palestinians, which both have rejected. 

 

The idea of forcefully displacing Palestinians was widely condemned, but Trump’s insistence that the US should take ownership increased the urgency of finding a permanent solution to pacify Gaza. That solution now hangs in the balance, and Trump’s plan stoked concerns about the impact it would have on regional stability and on Arab states in particular.

 

The concerns in Netanyahu’s government that the truce could fall apart led Israel to swiftly place its troops on alert for a potential return to fighting. 

 

Thousands of Hamas operatives crossed into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and abducting 250. In the ensuing war with Israel, more than 48,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. Vast stretches of the territory have been reduced to rubble.