Hamas chief calls for ceasefire, Israel rejects
Hamas chief, Ismail Haniyeh blamed Israel for blocking ceasefire talks and rejecting Hamas’ call to end the war, according to Reuters.
With one day to go in the countdown to Ramadan, Haniyeh gave a televised speech, on 10th March, declaring Hamas’ desire for an agreement that would bring an end to the war in Gaza.
However, “The enemy [Israel] still refuses to make guarantees and clear commitments over the issue of ceasefire and stopping the aggressive war on our people,” the Hamas chief added, with regard to the outcomes of the Israel-Hamas negotiations in Cairo.
The BBC reported that as the fear of famine swells, international pressure escalates.
The Hamas delegation left the Egyptian and Qatari mediated talks in Cairo, declaring that the armed group was “open to negotiations to stop the aggression,” whereas Israel never attended the scheduled parley.
The presence of Israel’s delegation was subject to Hamas’ list of surviving hostages that could be released under a captive exchange agreement. Yet the deal for the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian captives was never agreed upon.
READ: Seven hostages killed amidst army bombing in Gaza
The Israel-Hamas war commenced on 7th October, after Hamas’ unprecedented killing of 1,200 Israeli people and the kidnapping of over 200 Israeli civilians and soldiers – including women and children.
Israel escalated tensions and retaliated in “self-defense” with heavy artillery and air strikes, killing over 31,100 people since October 2023.
Al Jazeera’s daily death count reveals, at the time of going to press, that of the thousands slaughtered, 12,300 were children and at least 8,400 were women. More than 8,000 Palestinian civilians remain missing.
Although this conflict between Israel and Palestine has rumbled for seven decades – consequently destabilising the Middle East – the Israel-Hamas war has attracted global mass protests, celebrity pleas to end the war, and a plethora of fake information about the war on social media, due to its devastating consequences.
Reuters/BBC/Al Jazeera/AP
