Al-Hayya: We are ready to begin talks on comprehensive ceasefire deal
The Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, confirmed its readiness to immediately start “comprehensive package negotiations, including the release of all Israeli captives in exchange for an agreed number of Palestinian prisoners, the complete withdrawal of the occupation army from the Gaza Strip, starting reconstruction and the lifting of the siege.”
This came in a video speech by the head of the Movement in the Gaza Strip, Khalil al-Hayya, who said that “the leadership of Hamas and the resistance factions are keen to stop the barbaric aggression and genocidal war on the Gaza Strip, and have worked for more than a year and a half of painstaking negotiations to achieve this goal, until we reached the January 17 agreement with its three phases.”
Netanyahu and his government turned against the agreement before the end of its first phase, he pointed out.
The Hamas leader said, “The mediators returned to communicate with us to find a way out of the crisis created by Netanyahu and his government, and we agreed to their proposal at the end of Ramadan, despite our conviction that Netanyahu insists on continuing the war and aggression to protect his political future, which was proven true after Netanyahu rejected the mediators’ proposal that we agreed to.”
Al-Hayya said that Netanyahu responded to the mediators’ proposal with a proposal that carries obstructive conditions and does not lead to an end to the war or a withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. The Hamas leader emphasized that the resistance and its weapons are a natural right of the Palestinian people.
Al-Hayya underscored that partial ceasefire agreements serve only as a political cover for Netanyahu’s agenda of continued annihilation and starvation war, even at the cost of sacrificing his prisoners, stressing that Hamas will not be part of them.
He welcomed the position of the US envoy Adam Boehler to put an end to the prisoner file and the war together, which goes in line with the Movement’s position.
Hamas recently received a new Israeli proposal for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, which includes a temporary truce for 45 days, with the aim of negotiating a permanent ceasefire during this period, along with the release of hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.
However, the proposal includes a clause in which Israel demands the “disarmament of Gaza,” which Hamas considers a red line, as well as the absence of guarantees for a permanent end to the war, which the Movement insists on as key part of any comprehensive agreement.