Jerusalem, May 5 (EFE).- The Islamist Hamas group is still interested in a ceasefire agreement in Gaza, but not without the raison d’être – to definitively end the war, its political bureau head Ismail Haniyeh said on Sunday.

“The movement’s priority is to stop the aggression against our people, which is a fundamental and logical position, and establish a more stable future,” Haniyeh said in an official statement published on the Hamas website.

“What is the use of an agreement if a ceasefire is not its first consequence,” the leader asked, detailing that the group had contacts and meetings with mediators and other armed factions in Gaza before sending a delegation to Cairo.

In a parallel message, released shortly afterward, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country “cannot accept” the end of the war in Gaza as that would amount to maintaining the status quo in the enclave.

“We are not ready to accept a situation in which the Hamas battalions come out of their bunkers, take control of Gaza again, rebuild their military infrastructure, and return to threatening the citizens of Israel in the surrounding communities, in the cities of the south, and all parts of the country,” Netanyahu said in a video message.

While the prime minister blamed Hamas for remaining “entrenched in extreme positions” that prevent an agreement, the Islamist group blamed the “extremist government” of the Israeli leader, who only seeks to “constantly invent justifications for the continuation of aggression” and to “sabotage” the efforts of the mediators.

“It is the United States that provided cover for this occupation. (They) should stop it, instead of providing it with weapons of destruction and extermination,” Haniyeh said, regarding a recent round of negotiations which, once again, has stalled.

Sources close to last week’s talks in Cairo told EFE that the proposed agreement entailed a phased ceasefire plan.

In the initial stage, a 40-day ceasefire would be implemented, during which 33 out of approximately 128 Israeli hostages held by Hamas would be released, with the Israeli army withdrawing from occupied areas in Gaza.

According to the source, the second phase will continue for another 42 days, during which all remaining hostages will be released.

Subsequently, a second phase spanning 42 days would see the release of all remaining hostages, followed by a period of “permanent calm in Gaza.”

The third and final phase, also lasting 42 days, would involve the exchange of bodies, the source said. EFE

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