Hamas Says It Is Ready for Comprehensive Gaza Ceasefire, Israel Insists Only on Its Own Conditions: What We Know?

Gaza (Quds News Network)- Hamas reiterated on Wednesday its readiness to accept a comprehensive ceasefire in Gaza and the release of all Israeli captives. In response, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that a Gaza ceasefire would only happen on Israel’s conditions.

Hamas released a statement on Wednesday regarding Israel’s ongoing genocide and siege of the coastal enclave, saying:

• We reaffirm our readiness for a comprehensive deal that includes the withdrawal of occupation forces from the Strip, the opening of the crossings, and the beginning of the reconstruction process.
• We reaffirm our approval of the formation of an independent national administration of technocrats to manage all affairs of the Gaza Strip.
• We reaffirm our readiness for a comprehensive deal under which all enemy captives will be released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners as part of an agreement to end the war.
• We are still awaiting the Zionist enemy’s response to the mediators’ proposal, which was agreed upon by the movement and the Palestinian factions.
• The occupation’s crimes threaten international peace and security and undermine the stability of the region and the world.
• We call on the United Nations to take urgent action to stop the genocide and forced displacement of our people.
• The deliberate targeting of the medical sector is a war crime and a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law.
• The suffocating siege and starvation of civilians is a systematic policy within the plan of genocide.
• The occupation continues its systematic destruction of Gaza City as part of a criminal act of genocide and ethnic cleansing.

Netanyahu’s office has rejected Hamas’s statement announcing its readiness to reach a ceasefire deal saying, “The war can end immediately” on the conditions set by the Israeli cabinet, which includes the release of all Israeli captives and the Palestinian group’s disarmament.

The statement also reiterated Israel’s demands for “the demilitarization of the Gaza Strip, Israeli security control of the Gaza Strip, and the establishment of an alternative civil government”.

Israeli news outlets also reported Defence Minister Israel Katz rejected Hamas’s statement by warning the group it only has “two options”.

“Soon it will understand that it must choose between two options: Accepting Israel’s conditions to end the war, first and foremost the release of all hostages and disarmament, or Gaza City will become the twin of Rafah and Beit Hanoun,” Haaretz reported Katz as saying.

“The [Israeli army] is preparing in full force,” Katz added.

Hours before, US President Donald Trump posted a short statement on his Truth Social platform saying “things will change rapidly” if the Palestinian group releases all the Israeli captives held in Gaza.

“IT WILL END!” Trump wrote in all-caps.
The Trump administration, which continues to provide unwavering support for Israel’s war on Gaza, has blamed Hamas for a failure to reach a ceasefire deal despite the group agreeing to several proposals put forward by mediators.

Hamas has pushed for guarantees that Israel will agree to a permanent end to its military assault on the territory – something that observers say Netanyahu and his far-right government have so far refused.

Three weeks ago, Hamas agreed to a proposal by Qatari and Egyptian mediators for a 60-day ceasefire, which according to Qatar would see the release of half of the remaining captives in Gaza.

But Netanyahu has apparently rejected this, saying he had instructed negotiations to begin only for the release of all remaining captives and an end to the war in Gaza on terms “acceptable to Israel”.

Once the temporary ceasefire begins, the proposal is for Hamas and Israel to begin negotiations on a permanent ceasefire that would include the return of the remaining captives.

However, mediators and Hamas have been waiting for weeks for an official Israeli response to the latest ceasefire proposal.

Over the past weeks, entire families have been killed together in their tents, shelters and houses as the Israeli forces are targeting densely populated areas in Gaza City amid stated plans to occupy it and forcibly displace one million people.

A spokesperson for UN chief Antonio Guterres on Wednesday said that more than 82,000 new cases of forced displacement were recorded in Gaza between August 14 and 31, including 30,000 people forced from north to south.

This came as the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification confirmed in August that famine conditions had gripped northern Gaza and were rapidly spreading south.