Hamas Says It Will Not Agree To Truce That Does Not End War In Gaza

Jerusalem: A senior Hamas official insisted late Saturday that the group would “not agree under any circumstances” to a truce in Gaza that did not explicitly include a complete end to the war.The official, who asked not to be named, decried Israeli efforts to obtain a deal on releasing hostages “without linking it to ending the aggression on Gaza”.”Hamas will not agree under any circumstances to an agreement that does not explicitly include a cessation of the war on Gaza,” the official said.There will be no agreement without a complete cessation of the war and the withdrawal of the occupation from the entire Gaza Strip.”A high-level Israeli official said earlier Saturday that Hamas’s failure to give up its demand to end the war was “thwarting the possibility of reaching an agreement”.The comments came after Hamas negotiators returned to Egypt on Saturday to give their response to a proposed pause in the nearly seven-month war. The Israeli official however said the country would only send a delegation to Cairo if it saw “positive movement” on the framework for a hostage deal, something that did not appear to be the case.