News - Middle East: A senior Hamas official says that US special envoy Steve Witkoff initially agreed to a recent Gaza ceasefire proposal put forward by the Palestinian resistance movement, but later yielded to demands from the occupying Israeli regime.

Witkoff “fully agreed” to the framework of a ceasefire agreement that Hamas had proposed, but later yielded to Israeli demands, Mahmoud Mardawi said on Tuesday.

He emphasized that Hamas would not have moved forward with the proposal if Witkoff had raised any objections, while his group was drafting the document.

Mardawi pointed out that the Hamas proposal aimed for a permanent ceasefire, a comprehensive Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, unrestricted entry of aid, and guarantees of implementation of the ceasefire deal from the Trump administration.

In return, Israel immediately rejected the demands, with Witkoff describing them as “unacceptable.”

Hamas maintains that 10 living Israeli captives and the bodies of 18 others would be released in exchange for an agreed-upon number of Palestinian prisoners.

“The Israeli occupation wants to receive the captives on the first day of the truce without guarantees of implementation of the deal. We will not hand over the ten occupation captives without sufficient guarantees for a ceasefire,” Mardawi stated.

The senior Hamas official further argued that the Tel Aviv regime circumvented the ceasefire proposal agreed by the resistance group and the US envoy, in order to solve its internal political problems.

Additionally, another senior Hamas official Bassem Naim took a swipe at Israel over disagreeing with agreed-upon provisions, and criticized a “complete bias toward the other side” that he said violates the fairness of mediation.

The latest friction in negotiations comes as the Gaza conflict nears 20 months of war, and the nearly three-month blockade on the Palestinian coastal sliver has pushed the population of over 2 million to the brink of famine.

While Israel allowed some aid to enter in recent days, aid organizations say far from enough is getting in.

At least 54,510 Palestinians have been killed, mostly women and children, and another 124,901 individuals injured in the brutal Israeli military onslaught on Gaza since October 7, 2023.

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants last November for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former minister of military affairs Yoav Gallant, citing war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the besieged coastal territory.

Source: Press TV