A spokesperson for Hamas' armed wing said Friday that while the group favors reaching an interim truce in the Israel-Hamas conflict, if such an agreement is not reached in the current negotiations, it may revert to insisting on a full package deal to end the conflict.
Hamas has repeatedly offered to release all hostages held in Gaza and conclude a permanent ceasefire in recent months, but the Israeli government "rejected the proposal," said Abu Obeida, spokesman for the al-Qassam Brigades, in a televised speech.
Obeida accused Israel of violating previous ceasefire agreements and resuming its military offensive in Gaza over the past four months.
Noting that Hamas was prepared for a "protracted confrontation," he said the group's current strategy focuses on inflicting losses on Israeli forces, carrying out high-impact attacks and attempting to capture additional soldiers.
Arab mediators Qatar and Egypt, backed by the United States, have hosted more than 10 days of talks on a U.S.-backed proposal for a 60-day truce in the ongoing conflict, which has devastated the Palestinian enclave.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said in a statement that Israel's efforts to secure a hostage release deal and a 60-day ceasefire "have so far not been reciprocated by Hamas."
As part of the proposed deal, 10 hostages held in Gaza would be returned, along with the bodies of 18 others, over the course of 60 days. In exchange, Israel would release a number of detained Palestinians.
Obeida added that if the current round of negotiations fails, Hamas may no longer consider previous partial exchange proposals.
Disputes remain over maps of Israeli army withdrawals, aid delivery mechanisms into Gaza, and guarantees that any eventual truce would lead to an end to the conflict, two Hamas officials told Reuters on Friday. The officials said the talks have yet to reach a breakthrough.
So far, Israel's military operations in Gaza have killed more than 58,600 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities.
The daily onslaught of hostilities, preventable deaths, a worsening fuel shortage, displacement and desperation are normalizing mass deprivation for Gazans, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said Friday.
The OCHA said Israeli authorities issued yet another displacement order, this time for parts of northern Gaza. It added that there are also deeply troubling reports of malnourished children and adults in hospitals with limited resources to treat them.
Humanitarian access remains heavily restricted, with only 7 out of 13 aid coordination attempts with Israeli authorities being successful. This has hampered efforts to retrieve fuel, relocate generators, and deliver hygiene and medical supplies, the OCHA said.
(With input from agencies)