The senior Hamas official speaks anonymously to the AFP news agency after Saturday’s negotiations, which ended without an agreement. The talks are scheduled to continue on Sunday.
“Under no circumstances” will Hamas agree to a ceasefire that does not explicitly include a complete end to the war, according to the source.
Late on Saturday evening, the official further claims that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is “personally obstructing” a ceasefire agreement.
On Saturday, Hamas’ delegation sat down at the negotiating table in Cairo together with mediators from Egypt, Qatar and the United States. Israel has so far not sent a delegation to Cairo, but has been involved in drawing up the proposals that are now on the table.
Israel points to Hamas
The negotiators in Cairo on Saturday discussed Hamas’s most important demands, namely a full ceasefire and Israeli withdrawal, according to the Palestinian group’s spokesman Osama Hamdan.
– We hope that we can find some positive answers today, Hamdan said by phone to Al Jazeera on Saturday evening.
However, a source close to the negotiations stated just after 21:00 that the negotiations in Cairo had ended for the day.
An unnamed Israeli official says at the same time that Hamas’ demands for an end to the Gaza war prevent the attempt to negotiate a ceasefire.
– So far, Hamas has not given up its demand for an end to the war, which hinders the possibilities of landing an agreement, says the unnamed Israeli official on Saturday evening to the AFP news agency.
Prisoner exchange
The proposal being discussed in Cairo involves an immediate ceasefire that will last for six weeks and coincide with the release of Israeli hostages, according to the AP news agency.
The first phase will last 40 days and involve some form of Israeli withdrawal. Hamas will reportedly start by releasing female civilian hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons.
“Unfortunately, there was a clear statement from Netanyahu saying that regardless of whether there is a ceasefire or not, he will continue the attack on Rafah – which means there will be no ceasefire.” Our understanding is that in order to achieve a ceasefire, there can be no more attacks anywhere in Gaza, including Rafah, Hamas spokesman Hamdan said.
He went on to say that they have to talk about the real US position, as it will affect the Israelis.
– Guarantees are important, but we need a clear statement that clarifies the positions on each side, says Hamdan.
