Hamas rejects US hostage deal after UN Security Council adopts ceasefire resolution

By Samantha Kamman, Christian Post Reporter Friday, March 29, 2024

A member of the Israeli security forces stands close to a car hit by a rocket fired from Gaza, in the southern Israeli city of Sderot, on October 9, 2023. Stunned by the unprecedented assault on its territory, a grieving Israel has counted over 900 dead and launched a withering barrage of strikes on Gaza that have raised the death toll there to 560, according to Palestinian officials. | JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images

Hamas rejected a deal proposed by the United States to help secure the release of the remaining hostages amid ongoing tensions between the Biden administration and Israeli officials about how to best address the conflict.

Israel agreed Saturday to a U.S.-proposed compromise that involved releasing around 700 to 800 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for 40 hostages, The Jerusalem Post reported. According to an update Tuesday, Hamas reiterated its demands, which include the full withdrawal of Israeli Defense Forces from the Gaza Strip.

The Post shared a message Hamas posted on its Telegram channel in response to the deal, stating that the terror group is adhering to the demands presented in a March 14 press release, in which Hamas "deemed necessary for an agreement" withdrawal of the IDF from Gaza.

"The occupation's response did not respond to any of the basic demands of our people and our resistance: (a comprehensive ceasefire, withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, the return of the displaced, and a real exchange of prisoners)," Hamas wrote on Telegram.

"Accordingly, the movement reiterates that Netanyahu and his extremist government bear full responsibility for thwarting all negotiation efforts and obstructing reaching an agreement so far."

Israel has been at war with Hamas after the terrorist group's surprise attack on Oct. 7, which resulted in the deaths of at least 1,200 people, primarily civilians, and the abduction of over 240 Israelis and foreigners. Hamas released several hostages during a temporary ceasefire last year. However, over 130 individuals remain in captivity, and around 30 of the hostages are presumed dead.

The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry says that over 32,000 people have been killed since the war began, figures that don't differentiate between civilians and combatants.

In a Tuesday statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the proposal's rejection is a consequence of a United Nations Security Council resolution.

Earlier this week, the Security Council passed a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of all the hostages. The U.S. abstained from the vote.

“Hamas has once again rejected an American compromise proposal and has repeated its extreme demands: An immediate halt to the war, the complete withdrawal of the IDF from the Gaza Strip and leaving in place its administration so that it can repeat, time and again, the massacre of October 7, as it has promised to do,” Netanyahu stated.

"Israel will not address Hamas's delusional demands. Israel will pursue and achieve its just war objectives: Destroying Hamas's military and governmental capacities, release of all the hostages, and ensuring Gaza will not pose a threat to the people of Israel in the future."

Netanyahu intends to send a delegation to Washington, D.C., as early as next week to discuss a potential ground operation in Rafah, a strategy that the Biden administration opposes, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre confirmed Wednesday.

Netanyahu argues the operation is necessary to eliminate Hamas, while the Biden administration fears that Israel does not have a foolproof plan to prevent civilian casualties, Axios reported last week.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin told his Israeli counterpart this week that the civilian death toll in Gaza is "too high" and the amount of aid entering the territory is too low.

Netanyahu previously canceled a delegation visit to D.C. after the U.S. failed to veto the ceasefire resolution.

According to a press release published Wednesday by the Israeli prime minister’s office, Netanyahu met in Jerusalem with a U.S. congressional delegation organized by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

Netanyahu discussed the war in Gaza, stating, "We have to win. There is no substitute for victory."

"What we've set out at the outset, with the support of President Biden and the administration — important support, which we appreciate deeply — was to say, the first thing: Our goal is to destroy the military and governing capabilities of Hamas in Gaza. Hamas has to be eliminated. Not as in idea. Nazism wasn't destroyed as an idea in World War Two, but Nazis do not govern Germany," he stated. "There are still Neo-Nazis around, but you destroyed that organization."

Samantha Kamman is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: samantha.kamman@christianpost.com. Follow her on Twitter: @Samantha_Kamman