Hamas says that there are no real negotiations for a ceasefire

A senior Hamas official has said that there are no real negotiations for a ceasefire deal to stop the war in Gaza and exchange prisoners with Israel. The political bureau member responsible for the negotiations file, Khalil Al-Hayya, added that the movement is ready for an agreement if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants one.

Al-Hayya told Al-Jazeera that Hamas insists on a complete Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, and from the Philadelphi and Netzarim axes, as a condition for any agreement. “Netanyahu said clearly that there will be no withdrawal from Netzarim and no withdrawal from Philadelphi, and I say here clearly that without a complete exit and withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, there will be no agreement.”

He claimed that Netanyahu wants the war to continue and does not want to reach a deal. “That’s because the deal has a real price, and he does not want to pay this price.”

The Hamas official criticised the new conditions set by Netanyahu, pointing out that in a proposal he presented to the mediators, he wanted to deport 50 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences after their release, but after 2 July, that number was raised to 150. He also explained that among the new conditions that Netanyahu added is that no Palestinian life sentence prisoners will be released, even if they are sick or elderly, in contradiction to the previous Israeli proposal.

“In each clause, Netanyahu set a new condition that goes against the proposal he himself had set, including Philadelphia and Netzarim,” said Al-Hayya. “Unless the Palestinian prisoners are released, the war stops, and the Israeli occupation withdraws, specifically from Philadelphi, there will be no agreement.” The current obstacles to an agreement, he noted, are major.

When asked about the latest six Israeli prisoners to be killed, the Hamas spokesman put the blame squarely on the Israeli occupation state. “The six prisoners and others could have been released to their families as part of a real exchange deal while they were alive, but the insistence of the occupation army and its extremist government is the reason why these individuals lost their lives along with dozens directly killed by the occupation state’s bombing, along with those sitting with them, guarding them and living with them.”

Al-Hayya pointed out that some of the prisoners were killed “directly by live bullets.” He accused the Israeli government of not caring about the fate of the hostages and cited a statement by Netanyahu in which he said that the Philadelphi axis is more important than the hostages, considering this evidence of Israel’s lack of seriousness in reaching an exchange deal.

Various Israeli cities have witnessed demonstrations demanding the release of the hostages captured by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, coinciding with the escalation of calls for a general strike.

READ: Hamas armed wing says new instructions given to guards of Israeli hostages in Gaza