The statement was followed by the Qassam Brigades’ announcement of capturing an unknown number of Israeli soldiers in northern Gaza’s Jabalia refugee camp.
Hamas has rejected reports regarding the resumption of indirect talks with Israel, saying there is “no need” for another round of negotiations as it had previously approved a Qatari-Egyptian proposal.
“We do not need new negotiations and the Hamas movement responded to the document presented by the mediators,” Hamas official Osama Hamdan told Al Jazeera Arabic in a phone interview on Saturday.
“We cannot trust any Israeli proposal and why should we accept another one after we already agreed to the mediators’ proposal?” he added.
Hamdan was referring to a proposal by Qatar and Egypt that Hamas had approved on May 6 during the previous round of negotiations.
Israel rejected the proposal at the time and went ahead with its planned invasion of the densely-populated southern city of Rafah. The military operation and subsequent closure of the vital Rafah border crossing disrupted the entry of aid into Gaza and urgent medical evacuations.
The talks have since witnessed a stalemate with Israel intensifying its war, widely described as a genocide, on the besieged enclave.
On Friday, CIA Director Bill Burns and Qatar’s Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani met in Paris, resulting in an Israeli official later saying that negotiations will resume this week.
“At the end of the meeting, it was decided that within the next week negotiations will be resumed on the basis of new proposals, led by the Egyptian and Qatari mediators and with the active involvement of the US,” an Israeli official told Axios on Saturday.
However, Hamas’s Beirut-based spokesperson said the movement had “not been informed by the mediators of anything related to the resumption of negotiations”.
“Talk today about a new negotiation is not serious,” Hamdan told Al Jazeera.
“The question is about the guarantees that can be provided regarding Israel’s acceptance of new ideas,” he added.
Hamas captures Israeli soldiers
In a major development early on Sunday, the armed wing of Hamas, Al-Qassam Brigades, announced the capture of Israeli soldiers in northern Gaza.
Al-Qassam’s spokesman, Abu Obeida, announced in a televised audio recording that the resistance had “lured a Zionist force” into a tunnel in Jabalia refugee camp.
Israel was quick to deny Al-Qassam’s claims despite video footage released showing Hamas fighters dragging at least one captured soldier in a tunnel.
Hamas had captured 252 Israelis during the surprise October 7 attack, with 121 captives still in Gaza, including 37 presumed dead.
Hamas’s key demands throughout the negotiations has been a complete and permanent end of Israel’s war on the coastal enclave, the unconditional return of internally displaced Palestinians from the south to the north, and the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.
Israel has rejected Hamas’s demands as “unreasonable” and vowed to continue its brutal war until it “eliminates” the Palestinian group – an objective that many analysts say is not realistic.
Since October 7, 2023, Israel has killed at least 35,903 people in Gaza and wounded 80,420 others.
The protestors have also demanded Netanyahu’s resignation.
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been under mounting pressure within Tel Aviv, with nearly daily protests demanding a deal to release the remaining captives.
In another major blow to Israel, the International Criminal Court announced last week it sought arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.
Then on Friday, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered Israel to halt its Rafah offensive, a move that Qatar welcomed as “the international community’s categorical rejection of the war on the Gaza Strip”.
