According to Israeli media, Israel has recalled its negotiating team from Qatar, ending immediate attempts to negotiate a ceasefire and hostage release deal with Hamas.
The move comes in the wake of a UN security council vote demanding a ceasefire and Hamas rejecting the latest proposals.
The UN security council resolution that passed on Monday, March 25, 2024 was the first time a resolution about an Israel-Gaza war ceasefire avoided being vetoed by one of the US, China or Russia.
After the UN vote, Benjamin Netanyahu’s office cancelled a planned visit to Washington by two of his Ministers.
Late on Monday evening Hamas issued a statement rejecting the latest ceasefire deal offer, saying Israel was not responding to its core demands of a “comprehensive ceasefire, withdrawal from the Strip, the return of displaced people and a real prisoner exchange.”
A repeated sticking point in ceasefire negotiations is reported to be a Hamas demand that Israel withdraw from Gaza militarily during the ceasefire.
Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement that Hamas’s stance clearly demonstrates its “utter disinterest in a negotiated deal and attests to the damage done by the UN Security Council’s resolution.”
It noted that Hamas “has once again rejected an American compromise proposal and has repeated its extreme demands: An immediate halt to the war, the complete withdrawal of the IDF from the Gaza Strip and leaving in place its administration so that it can repeat, time and again, the massacre of 7 October, as it has promised to do.”
“Hamas rebuffed all US offers for a compromise, while celebrating the Security Council’s resolution,” the statement added.
“Israel will not address Hamas’s delusional demands,” the statement disclosed, stressing that Israel will pursue and achieve “its just war objectives: Destroying Hamas’s military and governmental capacities, release of all the hostages, and ensuring Gaza will not pose a threat to the people of Israel in the future.”
Prior to the statement release, Israel’s Foreign Minister, Israel Katz said that Hamas had been emboldened to reject a deal by the vote for a ceasefire at the UN security council.
Katz told an Israeli news agency that the UN resolution indicated to Hamas that international pressure was closing in on Israel and that it need only wait for the war to end through that pressure rather than agreeing to make any concessions.
“The message delivered to Hamas yesterday is that you don’t have to hurry,” Katz said.
According to the Foreign Minister, the failure of the US to veto the recently passed UN Security Council resolution on Gaza makes it more difficult to free the Israeli captives held in the enclave.
He added that Hamas is taking advantage of the lack of veto by Washington to avoid paying the price for a ceasefire.
Undeterred By UN Resolution
Meanwhile, Israel seems undeterred by the resolution as its forces have continued to pound the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli military bombed a house in the city of Rafah, killing at least 18 people, including at least 9children, and injuring more.
The Israeli army announced on X that warplanes have hit more than 60 targets across Gaza, mainly in support of the ground forces.
The targets included attack tunnels and buildings where fighters were present.
It said that the army’s operation at Gaza City’s al-Shifa Hospital continues, with troops killing several fighters and capturing weapons over the past day.
The army also reportedly struck the launch sites in northern Gaza, from which rockets were fired towards the southern Israeli city of Sderot yesterday.
The statement added that troops continued their raids in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, seized weapons and military equipment, killed fighters and destroyed infrastructure.
The Israeli army has been conducting large-scale operations around al-Shifa Hospital and in Khan Younis.
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