![The Israeli army continues its military operations with tanks and military vehicles along the Gaza Strip border as destroyed and heavily damaged residential areas following the Israeli attacks on the cities of Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip are seen from the Gaza-Israel border region on May 20, 2025. [Mostafa Alkharouf - Anadolu Agency]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/AA-20250520-38016851-38016845-ISRAELI_ATTACKS_CONTINUE_ON_GAZA_STRIP-1-1.jpg?fit=920%2C613&ssl=1)
Ceasefire talks with Israel remain at a standstill due to the occupation’s insistence on continuing its war on Gaza, a senior Hamas official said on Sunday.
Mahmoud Mardawi, a leading member of Hamas, stated that the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, continues to reject any halt to what he described as a “criminal war” targeting innocent civilians in Gaza.
He stressed that ending the aggression and allowing humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip are two non-negotiable conditions.
Mardawi added that Israel is trying to impose conditions that undermine the sovereignty of the Palestinian people and the resistance’s weapons – conditions which Hamas firmly rejects.
He clarified that the resistance’s arms are directly linked to ending the occupation and are not open for negotiation.
Mardawi concluded by reaffirming Hamas’s national stance, which prioritises the protection of the Palestinian people, ending the war, and opening safe corridors for the delivery of humanitarian assistance.
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