GAZA - Israel is seeking a ceasefire agreement with Hamas to secure the release of its hostages before resuming military operations in the Gaza Strip, Ezzat al-Rishq, a member of Hamas' political bureau, said on Monday.
In a statement sent to Xinhua, al-Rishq said that Israel wanted "a temporary agreement to release its prisoners, in order to resume war and extermination thereafter."
Noting that the attempts by Israel to release its hostages "by force have failed," the Hamas official stressed that "there is no alternative to a real deal with the resistance."
On Monday, Israel released 150 Palestinians who were detained during the military operations in the Gaza Strip, according to the General Authority for Crossings and Borders in Gaza
He emphasized that a permanent cessation of firing is the only guarantee to protect the Palestinian people "and to stop the bloodshed and massacres," adding that Hamas adheres to its position represented by the complete withdrawal of the Israeli army and the return of displaced persons to their homes freely.
Qatar and Egypt, along with the United States, are mediating a deal between Hamas and Israel to exchange prisoners and achieve a ceasefire in Gaza.
Israel estimated that there were still about 134 Israelis held hostage in Gaza, whereas Hamas announced that 70 of them had been killed in Israeli airstrikes.
More than 9,000 Palestinians were held in Israeli prisons, with some having died since the onset of the conflict in Gaza on Oct 7, 2023, according to HaMoked, an Israeli human rights group.
Also on Monday, Israel released 150 Palestinians who were detained during the military operations in the Gaza Strip, according to the General Authority for Crossings and Borders in Gaza.
The authority said in a press statement that the Palestinians were released via the Kerem Shalom crossing in the southern Strip.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said in a separate statement that the Israeli forces released two of its ambulance crews after they had been detained for 50 days.
The statement added that the Israeli forces arrested them at a military checkpoint in Khan Younis, south of the Gaza Strip, while they were on a mission to evacuate patients from the Al-Amal Hospital in February.
The statement disclosed that Israeli forces have detained six crews from the society, and their current situation remains unknown.
According to Palestinian human rights organizations, during the ongoing Israeli ground operation in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli army has arrested hundreds of Palestinians and transferred them to undisclosed destinations.
Israel launched a large-scale offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip to retaliate against a Hamas rampage in southern Israel on Oct 7, 2023, during which about 1,200 people were killed and more than 200 were taken hostage.
