Hamas says 'positively engaging' but fate of Gaza ceasefire lies in US-Israel talks
US President Donald Trump is expected to meet with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the White House next week to press him for an end to the war in Gaza.
"We are engaging positively with the mediators. What matters to us is stopping the aggression and the massacres. We hope something positive will happen on this front," a Beirut-based Hamas official said.
"The problem lies with Netanyahu and his government, which does not respond to the mediators' calls to halt the aggression, release the prisoners, allow aid into Gaza, and withdraw," added the official.
In Washington, Mr Trump is likely to tell Mr Netanyahu that the war, now more than 20 months old, can no longer continue, sources in the US said on Monday.
"Netanyahu is ready to discuss a ceasefire, because the military and political objectives of the war have long been achieved," one of the sources explained.
A second Hamas official stated that "the Israelis and Americans are discussing matters among themselves. We are waiting for what will come out of those discussions".
"There are positive signals from the Israelis and Americans, but there is no reliance on Trump, given his historical positions on Hamas, which are far from promising," he added.
The war in Gaza started after a Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023, that killed about 1,200 people, according to Israeli figures. Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed more than 56,500 Palestinians in Gaza and reduced most of the coastal strip to rubble.
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