The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas has said it would not accept a truce deal that did not completely end the Israeli regime’s nearly seven-month-long genocidal war against the Gaza Strip.
The comments were made on Saturday by a senior official with the movement, who asked not to be named, AFP reported.
At least 34,654 people have died in Gaza since October 7, when the Israeli regime began the war in response to al-Aqsa Storm, a retaliatory operation by the coastal sliver’s resistance groups.
The official said the group would "not agree under any circumstances" to a truce that did not explicitly include a complete end to the war, including the regime’s withdrawal from Gaza.
He said the regime was trying to secure a deal that would enable the release of those who were taken captive during al-Aqsa Storm "without linking it to ending the aggression on Gaza."
The official, meanwhile, said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was "personally hindering" efforts to reach a truce due to "personal interests."
The comments echoed those made by Hossam Badran, a member of Hamas’ Political Bureau, to the agency a day earlier.
Bardan had condemned Netanyahu for stonewalling a deal, saying the Israeli premier’s insistence on carrying out a ground invasion against the southern Gaza city of Rafah was a key stumbling block in negotiations aimed at potential arrival at an agreement.
Around 1.5 million Palestinians have sought refuge in the city from the ravages of the war.
The Israeli official has said the regime would go ahead with invading the city “with or without” a truce.