Hamas announced on Friday evening that, in light of what it termed as “Israel's refusal” of the proposal of the mediators for a ceasefire and hostage release deal, and amid the Israeli operation in Rafah, it intends to hold consultations with the Palestinian Arab factions and “re-examine” its negotiation strategy.
A statement published on behalf of the terrorist organization said that by rejecting the proposal of the mediators, Israel returned the negotiations to their starting point, and is using the attack in Rafah as a reason to avoid further negotiations for an agreement.
The deputy leader of Hamas in Gaza, Khalil al-Hayya, made similar comments in an interview with the Al-Araby channel.
"Israel wants to return the hostages under the pressure of fire and negotiations, and this is a mistake, because in the past we released hostages only through negotiations," he stated.
"Every time Israel and Hamas come close to an agreement, Israel turns the tables and goes back to square one. Our demands remain as they were: A cessation of hostilities, total withdrawal of the IDF from the Gaza Strip, unrestricted return of displaced persons to their homes, supplies to the residents of Gaza, and an exchange agreement," added al-Hayya.
Earlier this week, Hamas said that it has decided to agree to a ceasefire proposal, but the proposal it had agreed to was not what Israel had proposed.
On Friday, CNN reported that Hamas demanded that Israel agree to a 12-week ceasefire instead of a six-week ceasefire during the hostage negotiations.
Three sources familiar with the discussions said that Hamas forwarded the demand in question to mediators in its latest counter proposal. According to the sources, Israel strongly opposes the extension of the ceasefire.
The Saudi Asharq channel reported that the Israeli delegation in Cairo demanded that Hamas release 33 living hostages alive in the first stage, as opposed to Hamas' proposal that the hostages would be "alive or dead."
(Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)