Hamas rules out hostage deal talks as Israel prepares for Gaza takeover

Senior Hamas official says the terror group unwilling to consider new ceasefire proposals so long as the war in Gaza continues, conditioning ceasefire talks on a unilateral Israeli ceasefire.

By David Rosenberg, World Israel News

The Hamas terror organization is no longer interested in ceasefire talks with Israel, a senior member of the group said Tuesday.

Basem Naim, a member of the Hamas politburo and a former minister of health for the Gaza-based group who now lives in exile in Turkey, told AFP Tuesday morning that Hamas will no longer negotiate under fire, insisting that Israel first halt its operations targeting Hamas forces in Gaza, and lift the siege on the coastal enclave before truce talks can resume.

“There is no sense in engaging in talks or considering new ceasefire proposals as long as the hunger war and extermination war continue in the Gaza Strip,” Naim said.

Naim called for international pressure on Israel to force the Jewish state to desist from what he called its “crimes of hunger, thirst, and killings” in Gaza.

A day earlier, the Israeli Security cabinet voted unanimously to approve plans for the capture and occupation of the Gaza Strip, including the mass evacuation of Gazans to the southern Strip, with the goal of separating the civilian population from Hamas forces.

Israel, Netanyahu said, would not withdraw from Gaza once the area has been occupied.

Currently, IDF forces control buffer zones constituting roughly half of the Gaza Strip, including large swaths of southern Gaza.

In addition, the cabinet voted Monday morning to give preliminary approval for a plan to establish an alternative method for distributing aid to Gaza civilians.

While the vote does not yet end the ban on aid transfers to Gaza, it green lights the establishment of a new mechanism for securing the transfer of aid to Gaza, and preventing Hamas from stealing incoming goods.