Hamas official says no deal yet on Gaza truce

AFP , Saturday 3 Feb 2024

A senior Hamas official said Saturday that a final agreement has not yet been reached over a tentative truce deal to pause the nearly four-month war with Israel in Gaza.

Gaza
Smoke rises over buildings amid Israeli bombardment in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on February 3, 2024, as the Israeli war on Gaza continues. AFP

 

Hamas leaders were reviewing a proposed framework thrashed out by top officials from Israel, Qatar, Egypt and the United States, but more time was needed to "announce our position", said Osama Hamdan, a top Hamas official in Lebanon.

He told a news conference that his movement "has repeatedly said" it was "open to discussing any initiative... putting an end to this barbaric aggression against our Palestinian people".

But while Hamdan confirmed the group had received the truce proposal drafted by mediators in Paris, he said an agreement had not yet been reached and that the plan was missing some details.

"We will announce our position" soon, "based on... our desire to put an end as quickly as possible to the aggression that our people suffer", he added.

Israel has launched a withering air, land and sea offensive that has killed at least 27,238 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in the Gaza.

A Hamas source said the current three-stage truce proposal included an initial six-week pause in fighting that would see some hostages released for Palestinian prisoners, with potential extensions.

Hamdan, whose movement demanded a total ceasefire prior to any agreement, also denounced an "Israeli disinformation campaign" aimed at "distorting" Hamas' position.

Israel has "rejected all initiatives made so far... in order to continue the aggression", he said.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to the Middle East yet again in the coming days to press for an agreement, the State Department said.

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