News24 | ‘Not committed to a ceasefire of any kind’: Netanyahu pours cold water on Gaza deal with Hamas

Demonstrators carry placards during an anti-government protest calling for the end of the war and for action to secure the release of Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip in front of the Israeli Defence Ministry in Tel Aviv. (Jack Guez/AFP)

• Israel will not agree to a ceasefire even if Hamas releases a US-Israeli hostage, said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
• Hamas says it will free Edan Alexander, a US-Israeli soldier held in Gaza.
• Hamas officials said talks were ongoing in Doha.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that the release of a US-Israeli hostage announced by Hamas would not lead to a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip or the release of Palestinian prisoners.

Negotiations for a possible deal to secure the release of all hostages in Gaza would continue “under fire, during preparations for an intensification of the fighting”, Netanyahu said in a statement released by his office.

Hamas on Sunday said it would release Edan Alexander, a US-Israeli soldier held in Gaza, as the group revealed it was engaged in direct talks with the US toward a ceasefire in the war-battered territory.

No date was given, but the family of 21-year-old Alexander said they had been informed that he might be released “in the coming days”.

“Israel has not committed to a ceasefire of any kind or the release of terrorists but only to a safe corridor that will allow for the release of Edan,” Netanyahu said.

READ | UN warns Gaza aid delivery impossible without UNRWA

The promise of Alexander’s release had been achieved through “military pressure” in the Gaza Strip, Netanyahu said.

Earlier, two Hamas officials told AFP that talks were ongoing in the Qatari capital of Doha with the United States and reported “progress” had been made.

Israeli strikes, meanwhile, continued, with Gaza’s civil defence agency reporting that at least 10 people were killed in an overnight Israeli airstrike on a school housing displaced people.

“At least 10 (dead), including several women and children, as well as dozens of wounded, were transported following an Israeli airstrike on the Fatima Bint Asad school, which is home to more than 2 000 displaced people in the city of Jabalia,” Civil Defence spokesperson Mahmud Bassal told AFP.

Talks between Hamas and the US administration on a ceasefire in Gaza and the entry of humanitarian aid to the besieged enclave are under way, a senior Palestinian official familiar with the discussions told Reuters on Sunday.

US President Donald Trump recently repeated a pledge to help get food to Palestinians in Gaza. A US-backed mechanism for getting aid into Gaza should take effect soon, Washington’s envoy to Israel also said on Friday.

A State Department spokesperson said: “We cannot speak to ongoing negotiations, but I will note recent statements by Qatar and Egypt that they are continuing to engage in pursuit of an agreement.”

The spokesperson said that Hamas bore sole responsibility for the war as well as for the resumption of hostilities.

“President Trump has made clear the consequences Hamas will face if it continues to hold the hostages, including American Edan Alexander and the bodies of four Americans,” the spokesperson added.

Since 2 March, Israel has cut off all supplies to the 2.3 million residents of Gaza, and food stockpiled during a ceasefire at the start of the year has all but run out.

On 18 March, Israel effectively ended the January ceasefire agreement with Hamas and renewed its military campaign in Gaza.

Gaza militants hold 58 hostages seized during Hamas’ 7 October 2023 attack on Israel that triggered the war, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.

The October 2023 Hamas attacks killed 1 200 people, and 251 were taken hostage back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. Israel’s campaign has killed more than 52 800 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to Hamas-run health authorities.