Hamas seeks permanent ceasefire for releasing hostages

Senior Hamas leader Osama Hamadan has said the outfit will release the remaining Israeli 134 hostages only when the permanent ceasefire is in place and Israelis completely withdraw from Gaza.

In a statement issued in Beirut on 5 March, Hamadan said in the past two days, the organisation had clearly presented this view before Qatari and Egyptian mediators.

He added that Hamas had reaffirmed its position that a permanent ceasefire was possible only after a complete pull out of the IDF (Israeli Defence Forces) from the Gaza Strip, and the return of displaced Palestinian families to their homes.

The tough position taken by Hamas has almost derailed US President Joe Biden’s optimism that a temporary six-week ceasefire would be reached before 10 March, the commencement of the holy month of Ramzan.

However, US secretary of state Antony Blinken is in continuous discussions with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed Al-Thani and Egyptian mediator major-general Abbas Kalam. The US official is also in communication with Israeli minister Benny Gantz, who is on a visit to the US.

Highly placed sources in the Israel defence ministry told IANS that if Hamas backs out of truce talks, Israel will have to go for an all-out attack to rescue its hostages. It may be noted that the IDF has been restrained from an all-out ground invasion on the Rafah border after an appeal from mediators, including the US, Qatar, and Egypt.