Hamas: Ceasefire Delayed Again Because Israel Gives New Terms

Illustration. (Photo: Unsplash)

JAKARTA - Palestinian resistance group Hamas on Wednesday stated that a ceasefire and prisoner swap agreement in the Gaza Strip was delayed again as Israel continued to provide new terms.

In a brief statement, Hamas highlighted the responsible and flexible stance they had shown during ceasefire negotiations and prisoner exchanges in Doha through mediation by Qatar and Egypt.

"However, the invaders (Israel) continue to provide new conditions regarding the withdrawal of troops, ceasefires, exchanges of prisoners, and repatriation of refugees, thus delaying the reaching of the agreement," Hamas said in a statement, quoted by Antara, Thursday, December 26.

Until now, there has been no response from the Israeli side regarding Hamas' statement.

Israeli authority leader Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday, December 24, that a team of negotiators from Israel would return from Qatar to discuss the proposed prisoner swap with Hamas.

However, a number of observers view Netanyahu's statement as showing his efforts to delay negotiations.

After a brief ceasefire at the end of November 2023, the leader of the Zionist regime has claimed several progress in ceasefire negotiations and prisoner swaps, but has later insisted on continuing aggression in the Gaza Strip.

Israel is believed to have detained more than 10,300 Palestinians, while the number of Israeli hostages in Gaza is currently estimated to be only one hundred.

Hamas said dozens of Israeli hostages in Gaza were killed by Israeli self-attacks that were carried out blindly.

"The gap between Israel and Hamas was insignificant so that it helped the agreement be reached between them", according to Israel's daily Yedioth Ahronoth, on Tuesday.

The Zionist regime of Israel has not stopped the aggression against the Gaza Strip which has killed nearly 45,400 people, most of whom are women and children, since October 7, 2023.

Last month, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu and former head of Israel's defense authority Yoav Gallant on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip.

In addition, Israel is also facing a lawsuit over alleged genocide at the International Court (ICJ) for its actions in Gaza.