The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar told the Arab negotiators that he would not accept a peace agreement unless Tel Aviv committed to a permanent ceasefire.
The WSJ reported on Thursday that Sinwar responded to intermediaries regarding the prisoner exchange proposal made by US President Joe Biden.
Furthermore, Sinwar informed them that the Palestinian resistance movement would not give up its weapons or sign any proposal that demands this.
“Hamas will not surrender its guns or sign a proposal that asks for that,” said Sinwar in a brief message to Arab mediators, as reported by WSJ.
Earlier, Hamas leader Osama Hamdan stated that Biden’s proposed Gaza ceasefire deal was “just words” and the Palestinian militant group had not received any written commitments related to a truce.
Biden presented last week what he labelled an Israeli three-phase plan that would end the war, free all captives and lead to the reconstruction of Gaza “without Hamas in power.”
But Hamdan, based in Beirut, told AFP: “There is no proposal — they are just words said by Biden in a speech.”
“So far, the Americans have not presented anything documented or written that commits them to what Biden said in his speech,” he said from the Lebanese capital.
Hamdan said Biden “tried to cover up the Israeli rejection” of another deal offered earlier in May, which had been approved by the Palestinian resistance group.
He reiterated that Hamas was willing to accept any deal that met his movement’s core demands of a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and the complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from the territory.
Source: WSJ and websites
