麻豆影视

Skip to main content

Hamas leader demands full end to Gaza war in apparent blow to Biden plan

Share

The leader of Hamas said on Wednesday the group would demand a permanent end to the war in Gaza and Israeli withdrawal as part of a ceasefire plan, dealing an apparent blow to a truce proposal touted last week by U.S. President Joe Biden.

Israel, meanwhile, said there would be no halt to fighting during ceasefire talks, and launched a new assault on a central section of the Gaza Strip near the last city yet to be stormed by its tanks.

The remarks by Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh appeared to deliver the Palestinian militant group's reply to the proposal that Biden unveiled last week. Washington had said it was waiting to hear an answer from Hamas to what Biden described as an Israeli initiative.

"The movement and factions of the resistance will deal seriously and positively with any agreement that is based on a comprehensive ending of the aggression and the complete withdrawal and prisoners swap,鈥 Haniyeh said.

Asked whether Haniyeh's remarks amounted to the group's reply to Biden, a senior Hamas official replied to a text message from Reuters with a "thumbs up" emoji.

Washington is still pressing hard to reach an agreement. CIA director William Burns met senior officials from mediators Qatar and Egypt on Wednesday in Doha to discuss the ceasefire proposal.

Since a brief week-long truce in November, all attempts to arrange a ceasefire have failed, with Hamas insisting on its demand for a permanent end to the conflict, while Israel says it is prepared to discuss only temporary pauses until the militant group is defeated.

Biden has repeatedly declared that ceasefires were close over the past several months, only for no truce to materialize. Notably, in February Biden said Israel had agreed to a ceasefire by the start of the Ramadan Muslim holy month on March 10, a deadline which passed with military operations in full swing.

Israeli soldiers drive a tank near the Israeli-Gaza border, in southern Israel, Wednesday, June 5, 2024. (Tsafrir Abayov / The Associated Press)

But last week's announcement came with far greater fanfare from the White House, and at a time when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is under mounting domestic political pressure to chart a path to end the eight-month-old war and negotiate the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas.

Three U.S. officials told Reuters Biden, having obtained Israel's agreement for the proposal, had deliberately announced it without warning the Israelis he would do so, to narrow the room for Netanyahu to back away.

"We didn't ask permission to announce the proposal," said a senior U.S. official granted anonymity to speak freely about the negotiations. "We informed the Israelis we were going to give a speech on the situation in Gaza. We did not go into great detail about what it was."

Hamas, who rule Gaza, precipitated the war by attacking Israeli territory on Oct. 7, killing around 1,200 people and capturing more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Around half of the hostages were freed in the war's only truce so far, which lasted a week in November.

Israel's military assault on Gaza has killed more than 36,000 people, according to health officials in the territory, who say thousands more dead are feared buried under the rubble.

Israel lukewarm

Although Biden described the ceasefire proposal as an Israeli offer, Israel's government has been lukewarm in public. A top Netanyahu aide confirmed on Sunday Israel had made the proposal even though it was "not a good deal."

The full details have not been published, but Israel insists that it would not sign up to any proposal that requires it to halt the war before Hamas is completely destroyed. The militants, meanwhile, have shown no sign of surrender and their main leaders are still at large.

"The outline allows Israel to realize all of the objectives: to destroy Hamas militarily and its governing capabilities, to bring home our hostages, and ensure that Gaza can never form a threat to us again," Israeli government spokesman David Mencer said on Wednesday of the ceasefire proposal.

Far-right members of Netanyahu's government have pledged to quit if he agrees to a peace deal that leaves Hamas in place, a move that could force a new election and end the political career of Israel's longest-serving leader. Centrist opponents who joined Netanyahu's war cabinet in a show of unity at the outset of the conflict have also threatened to quit, saying his government has no plan.

New assault in central Gaza

Meanwhile, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said there would be no let-up in Israel's offensive while negotiations over the ceasefire proposal were under way.

"Any negotiations with Hamas would be conducted only under fire," Gallant said in remarks carried by Israeli media after he flew aboard a warplane to inspect the Gaza front.

Israel announced a new operation against Hamas in central Gaza on Wednesday, where Palestinian medics said airstrikes had killed dozens of people.

The armed wings of Hamas and Islamic Jihad said they had fought gun battles with Israeli forces in areas throughout the enclave and fired anti-tank rockets and shells.

Palestinian children wounded in the Israeli bombardment on a residential building in Bureij refugee camp, are treated at al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, late Tuesday, June 4, 2024. (Saher Alghorra / The Associated Press)

"The sounds of bombardment didn't stop all night," said Aya, 30, a displaced woman in Deir Al-Balah, a small city in the central Gaza Strip, now the only major population center in the enclave yet to be stormed by Israeli tanks.

Two children were among the dead laid out on Wednesday in the city's Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, one of the last hospitals functioning in Gaza. Mourners said the children had been killed along with their mother, who had been unable to leave when others in the neighborhood did.

"This is not war, it is destruction that words are unable to express," said their father Abu Mohammed Abu Saif.

(Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi and Dan WilliamsWriting by Peter Graff; Editing by Toby Chopra)

CTVNews.ca Top Stories

Why brain aging can vary dramatically between people

Researchers are uncovering deeper insights into how the human brain ages and what factors may be tied to healthier cognitive aging, including exercising, avoiding tobacco, speaking a second language or even playing a musical instrument.

The union representing some 1,200 dockworkers at the Port of Montreal has overwhelmingly rejected a deal with their employers association.

A man who was critically injured in a police-involved shooting in Hamilton late Sunday afternoon has died in hospital, says the province鈥檚 police watchdog.

opinion

opinion How to transition from renting to owning a home in Canada

In his column for CTVNews.ca, personal finance contributor Christopher Liew offers a step-by-step guide on how to make the shift from renting to becoming a homeowner, and what you can start doing today to help the process go smoother.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced voters in Cloverdale鈥擫angley City will pick their next member of Parliament on Dec. 16.

Local Spotlight

For the second year in a row, the 鈥楪ift-a-Family鈥 campaign is hoping to make the holidays happier for children and families in need throughout Barrie.

Some of the most prolific photographers behind CTV Skywatch Pics of the Day use the medium for fun, therapy, and connection.

A young family from Codroy Valley, N.L., is happy to be on land and resting with their newborn daughter, Miley, after an overwhelming, yet exciting experience at sea.

As Connor Nijsse prepared to remove some old drywall during his garage renovation, he feared the worst.

A group of women in Chester, N.S., has been busy on the weekends making quilts 鈥 not for themselves, but for those in need.

A Vancouver artist whose streetside singing led to a chance encounter with one of the world's biggest musicians is encouraging aspiring performers to try their hand at busking.

Ten-thousand hand-knit poppies were taken from the Sanctuary Arts Centre and displayed on the fence surrounding the Dartmouth Cenotaph on Monday.

A Vancouver man is saying goodbye to his nine-to-five and embarking on a road trip from the Canadian Arctic to Antarctica.