A Hamas official reiterated today that the organization, which is negotiating a cease-fire agreement in the Gaza Strip in Cairo, “will under no circumstances accept an agreement that does not explicitly provide for the end of the war.

“Our information confirms that Netanyahu is personally stalling an agreement out of personal calculations,” the unnamed Hamas official also said of the Israeli prime minister, who reiterated that he rules out an end to the seven-month war before “neutralization” of Hamas.

A senior Israeli official said yesterday that Hamas is “blocking any possibility” of a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip by insisting on an end to the war during negotiations with mediators in Cairo.

“Informations that Israel has agreed to end the war, as part of a prisoner exchange agreement, or that Israel will allow negotiations to guarantee that the war will end are inaccurate. So far, Hamas has not abandoned its demand for an end to the war, and by doing so it is blocking the possibility of reaching an agreement” on a truce, the Israeli official said yesterday.

A Hamas official told AFP for his part that in the talks today in Cairo with the mediators (Egypt, Qatar, the United States) there was “no development”.

“Today’s negotiations are over and there will be a new round tomorrow,” he added yesterday.

The media reported yesterday morning that Washington has given assurances to Hamas that Israel would agree to a cease-fire after a ceasefire agreement is reached.

As of October 7, Israel and Hamas have only agreed to a cease-fire, at the end of November. It lasted a week and allowed the release of 105 hostages, including 80 Israelis and dual nationals, against 240 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons.

The day before yesterday, Hamas announced that it was going to Cairo “in a positive spirit to reach an agreement”, clarifying that it remains “determined” to achieve a “comprehensive end to the aggression” of Israel, “the withdrawal of the occupation forces” and “a serious exchange arrangement » hostages against Israeli prisoners.

But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterates that he is determined to go ahead with the large-scale attack on Rafah and rules out ending the war before Hamas is “neutralized”.

These statements, according to Hamas, “are aimed at torpedoing any possibility of an agreement”.

Thousands of citizens demonstrated yesterday in Tel Aviv asking the Netanyahu government to reach an armistice agreement that would allow the return of the hostages.

A banner with Netanyahu’s portrait read: “You are the ones who torpedo any deal.”