Hamas rejects possibility of truce with Israel

The representative of the Palestinian group Hamas, Hazem Qassem, ruled out a truce with Israel while it is “engaged in the escalation of this war,” reported “RIA News”.

“An occupation [Израилем] is in the midst of its aggression against civilians. There can be no talk of a truce while Israel is escalating this war,” he said.

He noted that the conversation about captured Israeli soldiers will begin after the end of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood. Qassem clarified that the issue of releasing the hostages is within the competence of the military wing of Hamas, the Al-Qassam brigade.

Earlier, The Wall Street Journal, citing Egyptian officials reportedthat Egyptian negotiators were unable to convince the Palestinian group Hamas to release wounded Israeli hostages. At the same time, The Times of Israel newspaper, citing Israeli officials wrotethat the authorities are not aware of such negotiations. “We are not involved in any hostage negotiations right now,” one of the people said.

On October 7, the armed Palestinian group Hamas began firing rockets at Israel. As a result of the hostilities, according to official data, more than 600 people were killed and over 2,000 were injured. In Palestine, more than 350 deaths were reported, with about 2,200 injured.

Israel responded by launching Operation Iron Swords. On the night of October 8, the country’s Defense Army attacked ten targets of the Palestinian group, including the movement’s intelligence headquarters. The media wrote about the probable death of one of the Hamas leaders, Ayman Younis. Later, the authorities officially announced that the country had entered a state of war.