Hamas: ‘No truce negotiations now’

According to Al-Jazeera, Saleh al-Arouri, deputy head of the group’s political bureau said that there will be no prisoner-captive exchange as long as the onslaught on Gaza continues.

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The deputy told press that there will be no prisoner exchange until the aggression ends and there is a comprehensive and definitive ceasefire, and that the occupation insists there are still women and children being held but we said we have handed all of them over. The remaining prisoners in Gaza are soldiers and civilian men who served in the occupation army.

“Our Zionist prisoners will not be liberated until all our prisoners are freed and a ceasefire takes hold. The resistance is ready for all Israeli military scenarios, whether ground war, air or other,” al-Arouri added.

For his part Israel’s defence minister Yoav Gallant said that Hamas violated the truce agreement by refusing to release 17 women and children who still held in Gaza.

As well in a press conference, Benjamin Netanyahu said that the war “will continue until we achieve all our goals, which is getting the captives back and eliminating Hamas. The ground operation is necessary to achieve the aforementioned goals.”

Since the truce ending last Friday Palestinian authorities have denounced more than 240 killed by Israeli attacks in the Strip and the Occupied West Bank, and more than 600 wounded.

According to the Israeli Army, the reason why they ended the ceasefire was that Hamas violated the terms of the truce after allegedly firing into Israeli territory. For its part, the Palestinian armed group blames Israel for not allowing the entry of fuel into the northern Gaza Strip, something that would also be a violation of the agreement.