Hamas outlines grim future for hostages after Israel abandons deal: ‘No chance’

A Hamas spokesman said there was “no chance” of Israeli hostages returning home after Netanyahu rejected the deal. The Israeli prime minister said he rejected the terms of the agreement, which included a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

The prospect of a deal to free the remaining hostages held by Hamas appeared to recede on Sunday after a Hamas official said Benjamin Netanyahu’s refusal of their terms meant there was “no chance” of their return.

According to The Guardian, Netanyahu previously rejected the militant group’s conditions for ending the war, which he said included Hamas remaining in power and Israel’s complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters that the Israeli prime minister’s refusal to end the military offensive in Gaza “means there is no chance of a return [израильских] prisoners,” the number of whom is estimated at 130 people.

Netanyahu faces growing pressure to release the hostages, but the statement said Hamas’ demands include “the withdrawal of our troops from Gaza, the release of all murderers and rapists… and leaving Hamas intact.”

“I categorically reject the terms of surrender of the monsters from Hamas,” he added.

On Sunday evening, family members of the hostages began a protest outside Benjamin Netanyahu’s private home in Jerusalem. The Forum for Israeli Hostages and Missing Families said the protesters would remain there until “the Prime Minister agrees to a deal to return the hostages.”

In a separate statement, the rights group demanded that Netanyahu “clearly state that we will not abandon civilians, soldiers and others kidnapped during the October debacle”: “If the prime minister decides to sacrifice hostages, he must show leadership and share his position honestly with the Israeli public.”

Under an agreement brokered by the United States, Qatar and Egypt in late November, more than 100 of the approximately 240 hostages captured in Gaza during the Oct. 7 Hamas attack were released in exchange for the release of 240 Palestinians held in Israeli custody. prisons, The Guardian recalls. But since then, numerous attempts to achieve another ceasefire have failed.

Netanyahu has repeatedly vowed to continue the offensive in Gaza until “total victory,” but commentators in Israel have questioned the conduct of the war, arguing that the offensive’s goals are unrealistic and accusing the Israeli prime minister of indecisiveness.

In his statement on Sunday, Netanyahu also reiterated his strong position on Palestinian statehood. “I will not compromise on the issue of full Israeli control over the security of all territory west of the Jordan River,” he said. On Saturday, Netanyahu rejected Joe Biden’s call for a Palestinian state after the war. His office said that in talks on Friday with the US President, Netanyahu “reaffirmed his policy that after the destruction of Hamas, Israel must maintain security control over Gaza to ensure that Gaza no longer poses a threat to Israel, a demand that is contrary to the demand for sovereignty of Palestine.”

On Sunday, Gaza’s health ministry announced that Israel’s war against Hamas had killed 25,000 Palestinians, and UN chief Antonio Guterres described the scale of civilian killings as “heartbreaking and completely unacceptable.”

Most of the victims were women and children, and thousands more bodies were likely to remain unaccounted for under the rubble across Gaza, the ministry said.

Speaking at a global summit in the Ugandan capital Kampala, UN Secretary General Guterres condemned Israel’s three-month offensive. “Israel’s military operations have caused widespread destruction and civilian deaths on a scale unprecedented during my tenure as secretary-general,” Guterres said at the opening of the G77+China forum, a coalition of 135 developing countries.