The White House issued a sharp rebuke of Hamas on Thursday after the terror group dismissed Israel’s latest ceasefire and hostage release proposal, reaffirming that President Donald Trump’s approach to the conflict remains firm.
“Hamas’s comments demonstrate they are not interested in peace but perpetual violence,” said US National Security Council spokesperson James Hewitt.
“The terms made by the Trump Administration have not changed: release the hostages or face hell,” he added.
The statement followed remarks by senior Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya, who is leading the group’s negotiations. He accused Israel’s leadership of sabotaging the deal from the start.
“Netanyahu set impossible conditions for a deal that does not lead to the end of the war or full withdrawal. He and his government violated the agreement before its first phase ended,” al-Hayya claimed.
He continued by outlining Hamas’s demands: “We are prepared to immediately hold true negotiations for the release of the captives that we hold in return for an agreed-upon number of prisoners being held by the occupation. The occupation in return must totally stop the war and totally withdraw from the Gaza Strip.”
Earlier this week, Hezbollah-linked Lebanese outlet Al-Mayadeen released what it claimed were the specifics of the proposal delivered to Hamas in Cairo.
According to the report, the Israeli offer includes a temporary 45-day halt in fighting in exchange for the release of nine live hostages and six bodies. A key condition of the deal is that Hamas must begin disarming the Gaza Strip.
Under the plan’s second phase, five living captives would be exchanged for 66 prisoners serving life terms, along with an additional 611 inmates from Gaza. Hamas would be expected to free the hostages quietly, without the dramatic processions it staged during previous exchanges under the January truce.
The proposal also includes terms to ensure humanitarian assistance reaches civilians directly and does not end up seized by Hamas, which has been accused of diverting significant portions of aid entering Gaza over the past year and a half.
Once those five hostages are released, aid shipments, along with materials for temporary shelter construction, would be delivered to Gaza. At the same time, the IDF would initiate a repositioning of its forces in Rafah and northern Gaza.
Hamas, however, remains defiant. The group has rejected disarmament and continues to demand a full halt to the war on its own terms.
{Matzav.com}