Israel – Times of Israel, April 28, 2025
‘No chance’ Israel will agree to a deal that allows Hamas to ‘rearm, recover,’ Jerusalem official says; after claimed breakthrough in talks, Israeli officials say no meaningful progress.
An Israeli official said Monday that there is “no chance” Israel would accept the five-year truce proposal with the Hamas terror group that is currently being discussed by Arab mediators.
“There is no chance that we will agree to a hudna with Hamas that just allows it to rearm, recover and to continue its war against Israel,” the official said, referring to a statement from a Hamas official that the group is to willing release of all remaining hostages in exchange for a five-year cessation of hostilities in the Gaza Strip.
“Hudna” is an Arabic term denoting a prolonged period of strategic calm that falls between a ceasefire and a peace treaty. The term has been used to describe periods of calm between Israel and Hamas in Gaza in the past few decades.
“Hamas is ready for an exchange of prisoners in a single batch and a truce for five years,” the Hamas official told AFP last week, on condition of anonymity.
The group has consistently demanded that a truce agreement must lead to the end of the war set off by their October 7, 2023, invasion of Israel, a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, a prisoner exchange, and the immediate and sufficient entry of humanitarian aid into the Strip.
