(VOVWORLD) - Hamas said on Thursday it had told mediators it would not take part in more negotiations during ongoing aggression but was ready for a "complete agreement" including an exchange of hostages and prisoners if Israel stopped the conflict.
 Palestinians sit to next to belongings as people flee Rafah after Israeli forces launched a ground and air operation in the eastern part of the southern Gaza city, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in the southern Gaza Strip May 9, 2024. (Photo: Reuters) |
Talks, mediated by among others Egypt and Qatar, to arrange a ceasefire between Israel and the Islamist movement in the Gaza war have repeatedly stalled with both sides blaming the other for the lack of progress.
The latest Hamas statement came as Israel pressed on with an offensive on the southern Gaza city of Rafah, despite an order by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the top UN court, to halt the attacks.
"Hamas and the Palestinian factions will not accept to be part of this policy by continuing (ceasefire) negotiations in light of the aggression, siege, starvation and genocide of our people", the Hamas statement read.
Israel has rejected past Hamas offers as insufficient and said it is determined to wipe out a group bent on its destruction. It says its Rafah offensive is focused on rescuing hostages and rooting out Hamas fighters.
Nearly 36,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's offensive across all of Gaza, the health ministry there says.