5/9/2024–|Last update: 5/9/202405:55 PM (Makkah Time)
Khalil Al-Hayya, a member of the Political Bureau of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), confirmed the movement’s insistence on accepting US President Joe Biden’s proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza and a prisoner exchange, in light of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s continued evasions to evade the obligation to reach a deal.
Al-Hayya pointed out – in a press conference held today, Thursday – that Hamas does not need new papers or proposals regarding the negotiations, stressing the necessity of forcing the occupation to implement the pledges in light of Netanyahu’s evasion.
He stressed Hamas’s refusal to return to square one or to go around in a vicious circle, in order to achieve Netanyahu’s goals, calling on the US administration to abandon its blind bias towards Israel if it wants to reach a deal and oblige it to abide by the agreements.
He stressed that any agreement must include a cessation of aggression, a complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, including the Philadelphi Corridor and the Rafah crossing, the return of the displaced to their homes freely and without any inspection, relief for the Palestinian people and reconstruction, leading to a serious exchange deal.
The head of the Hamas delegation to the ceasefire negotiations pointed out that everyone around the world has reached a conviction about the party obstructing the agreement by committing massacres and setting conditions, stressing that the policy of military escalation and committing more massacres to release Israeli prisoners by force has proven to be a failure.
He added, “We support the valiant Palestinian resistance, appreciate its heroism and will, and pledge to stand firm at the negotiating table.”
The senior Hamas leader’s remarks come after Reuters quoted a senior US official as saying that a new draft agreement on a prisoner exchange deal could be issued next week or earlier.
The American official explained that the new proposal regarding the exchange deal aims to resolve the main points of contention, noting that the negotiators are trying to resolve the two obstacles of the Philadelphi Corridor and the lists of prisoners included in the exchange deal, in light of the ongoing war on the Gaza Strip for the 335th day.
The official added that an Israeli delegation confirmed Israel’s readiness to withdraw from the Philadelphi corridor after a first phase lasting 42 days, considering Netanyahu’s statements and his insistence on occupying the Philadelphi corridor to have put the mediating parties in a difficult position.
This comes as the Israeli attacks and criticism of Netanyahu escalate, accusing him of obstructing the deal that will return the detainees alive, against the backdrop of the army’s announcement of recovering the bodies of 6 prisoners from a tunnel in the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, while violent clashes erupted between police and protesters in Tel Aviv, in addition to a strike by the Histadrut trade union federation.