Netanyahu dissatisfied with Hamas ceasefire proposal

(Patria) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said yesterday that he was not satisfied with Hamas's new ceasefire proposal, and Hamas warned that there would be no agreement if the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip continued.

Netanyahu assessed that Hamas's new ceasefire proposal was far from Israel's basic demands, adding that military pressure was still necessary to release the hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli forces occupied the Palestinian side of the border crossing in Rafah, which Netanyahu described as a "very significant step towards destroying Hamas's remaining military capabilities".

This cut off a key route through which aid was arriving in the Gaza Strip, which is already on the brink of starvation. Hamas official Osama Hamdan warned that there would be no ceasefire if the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip continued.

Hamdan said this at a press conference in Beirut, while a Hamas delegation arrived in Cairo from Doha to continue ceasefire negotiations.

- We claim that the military operation in Rafah, if Israel carries it out, will not be a picnic for the (Israeli) army. The ball is in Netanyahu's court - Hamdan said.

He emphasized that the new ceasefire proposal to which Hamas agreed was "the minimum that meets the demands of their people and their resistance".

- The Rafah crossing was and will remain exclusively an Egyptian-Palestinian crossing - Hamdan added.