Hamas says new truce negotiations no longer meaningful

Hamas stated on Tuesday that negotiations for a truce in Gaza were no longer meaningful at this stage and urged the world to pressure Israel to stop the "war of hunger," following Israel's announcement of a "conquest" plan for the Palestinian territory.

"There is no point in engaging in negotiations, nor in considering new ceasefire proposals as long as the war of hunger and the war of extermination continue in the Gaza Strip," Bassem Naim, a member of the political bureau of the Palestinian movement, told AFP. "The world must pressure the Netanyahu government to end the crimes of hunger, thirst, and killings" in Gaza, he added.

These statements come after the Israeli government's announcement of a new military campaign that plans the "conquest" of the Gaza Strip and massive displacement of its population within the territory. "The operation includes a large-scale attack" and "the displacement of most of the Gazan population" from combat zones, said Brigadier General Effi Defrin, an army spokesperson, on Monday.

This plan was "firmly" condemned on Tuesday by France, whose Foreign Minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, stated that the Israeli government was "in violation of humanitarian law." UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed his alarm on Monday about the Israeli plan.

The Gaza Strip, where nearly all 2.4 million inhabitants have already been displaced, often multiple times, since the beginning of the conflict, has been under a strict Israeli blockade since March 2 and is facing a severe humanitarian crisis.

Gazan civil defense spokesperson Mahmoud Bassal stated on Tuesday that three Palestinians, including a little girl, were killed following Israeli bombings at dawn in various areas of the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli army resumed its offensive on the territory on March 18, ending a two-month truce with Hamas.

Ending the war

The stated goal of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government remains to "defeat" the movement that triggered the war with its unprecedented Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, and to "bring back the hostages" abducted that day.

In Israel, the army has called up tens of thousands of reservists, but a senior security official stated on Monday that there remains a "negotiation window" for the release of hostages until the end of President Donald Trump's visit to the Middle East. This visit is scheduled from May 13 to 16.

Hundreds of Israelis protested Monday in front of the Knesset in Jerusalem, at the opening of a parliamentary session, expressing their opposition to the government's new plan. "If we want to free the hostages, we must end the war now, ensure their release, and then Hamas will give us a thousand reasons to fight again," Yaya Fink, one of the protest organizers, told AFP.

The Oct.7, 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official data.

Of the 251 people abducted, 58 are still held in Gaza, including 34 who have been declared dead by the Israeli army. Hamas is also holding the body of an Israeli soldier killed in a previous Gaza war in 2014.

The Israeli reprisals campaign has resulted in at least 52,567 deaths in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to data from the Hamas government’s Health Ministry, deemed reliable by the U.N.