"Under no circumstances": Israel rejects Hamas ceasefire offer
Kyiv • UNN
Israel rejects Hamas' ceasefire proposal, refusing to release prisoners.
Israel will "under no circumstances" agree to Hamas' ceasefire proposal, an Israeli official tells CNN, UNN reports.
Details
As noted, some parties were optimistic about the Hamas proposal, but one Israeli official said on Wednesday that his country would "never" agree to it.
Hamas's demands include a four-and-a-half-month ceasefire and a permanent end to the war, as well as the release of hundreds of terrorists from Israeli prisons.
The terrorist group also stated that it wants a complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip, to which Israel said it was not ready to do so.
Addendum
According to The Times of Israel, today Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed the war in Gaza with U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken in Jerusalem. The details of the meeting were not made public, but it is noted that it was "long and in-depth.
The US secretary of state also met with President Isaac Herzog to discuss the proposed hostage deal and Hamas' response, and said that "a lot of work needs to be done" before an agreement is reached.
"We are carefully considering this proposal... there is a lot of work to be done, but we are very focused on doing that work and hopefully being able to resume the hostage release that was interrupted so many months ago," Blinken said.
