Osama Hamdan, one of the senior members of the Hamas terrorist organization, said on Thursday that his organization is not ready to discuss any new proposals that do not guarantee the end of the war and the withdrawal of the IDF from the Gaza Strip.
"The ball regarding the negotiations on a ceasefire agreement is now in the court of the mediators and Israel," said Hamdan.
"Israel is not interested in stopping the fighting, and in contrast to the Israeli stubbornness, there is a serious willingness by Hamas and the Qatari and Egyptian mediators. We are not interested in discussing the Israeli response but rather the Israeli side's response to the mediators' proposal," Hamdan added, noting that the Israeli response is not uniform and there are contradictory statements by senior Israeli officials.
He also stated that "it is not possible to rely on the confused Israeli positions on which Israeli officials are divided among themselves."
"Hamas received promises from the mediators that they will continue to work to advance their demands in the negotiations. We showed great flexibility compared to Israeli intransigence," charged Hamdan.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar has rejected the Biden administration's ceasefire proposal, vowing that the terrorist organization will keep its weapons.
According to the report, Sinwar told Arab mediators, “Hamas will not surrender its guns or sign a proposal that asks for that.” He further stated that the only ceasefire Hamas would accept is a permanent one that ends Israel's military operations in Gaza for good.
Later on Thursday, Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari said that Hamas has not yet handed mediators its response to the latest ceasefire proposal and is still studying it.
Al-Ansari added that Qatari, Egyptian and the US mediators are still making efforts.