Hamas says it is prepared for comprehensive ceasefire agreement
Palestinian Islamist group Hamas is prepared for a comprehensive ceasefire agreement with Israel, according to a statement on Saturday.
“We don’t want a partial agreement, but a comprehensive settlement that ends the war,” a Hamas official told Palestinian journalists.
As part of such an agreement, the Islamists would release all Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in Israel, he added.
Earlier on Saturday, a delegation of senior Hamas figures reached Cairo for talks with Egyptian mediators.
Egypt, Qatar and the US are acting as mediators in the indirect talks between Israel and Hamas, which have been at a standstill for weeks.
A ceasefire that came into force in January collapsed after two months.
Israel had refused to negotiate an end to the war as part of the next phase of the ceasefire, originally agreed, arguing Hamas should be disarmed as part of a future peace settlement. Hamas categorically reject this.
