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Cairo
Hamas on late Saturday (May 4) said that it would not accept a truce deal that did not completely end the war in the Gaza Strip. The Palestinian militant group accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of "personally hindering" a deal. On Saturday, a Hamas delegation met Qatari, Egyptian, and US mediators in Egypt's Cairo in the latest bid to halt the war which started in October last year.
According to a report by the news agency AFP, a senior Hamas official said on Saturday that the group would "not agree under any circumstances" to a truce that did not explicitly include a complete end to the war, including Israel's withdrawal from Gaza.
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The official, who chose to remain anonymous, condemned Israel's efforts to secure a hostage-release deal "without linking it to ending the aggression on Gaza".
Meanwhile, a top Israeli official earlier accused Hamas of "thwarting the possibility of reaching an agreement" by refusing to give up its demand for an end to the war, AFP reported.
Thousands of Israelis protest, demand PM should accept truce
As the meeting in Cairo took place, thousands of Israelis protested in Tel Aviv, demanding that Netanyahu should accept the truce deal with Hamas that would see the remaining Israeli hostages brought home from Gaza.
At the rally, relatives and supporters of the more than 130 hostages still in captivity said anything possible had to be done to bring them home, the news agency Reuters reported.
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On October 7, 2023, Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on Israel, killing 1,200 Israelis and foreigners and hundreds of Israelis were taken as hostages. In response, Israel struck back hard at the Gaza Strip, destroying large swathes of the enclave and killing more than 34,000 people.
The latest truce proposal
The latest proposal (in the ceasefire agreement) includes a first phase lasting up to 40 days in which up to 33 of 128 Israeli hostages held in Gaza would be released along with IDF withdrawal from parts of Gaza, a report by the Times of Israel said.
The second phase, which would last for 42 days, would see the release of all other living hostages and the sides completing arrangements for sustainable calm in Gaza.
The third and final phase, which would also last for 42 days, would see an exchange of bodies.
(With inputs from agencies)