Hamas says a ceasefire may be imminent

Senior Hamas officials told CNN that a ceasefire with Israel could happen very soon, “imminent, perhaps within 24 hours.” This comes after international pressure on both sides to end the recent round of fighting. Earlier yesterday, Musa Abu Marzouq, deputy head of the Hamas political bureau, said he expected a ceasefire within a day or two. He told al-Midan that Israel was begging for a ceasefire and that there had been talks to reach arrangements, but Hamas was not ready to fulfill the conditions. Abu Marzouq was speaking on the tenth day of Operation “Guarding the Walls” as Israel continued its precision raids on the Gaza Strip and Hamas continued to fire rockets at southern Israel and the southern coastal strip. Abu Marzouk said: From the beginning we made it clear that if they bombed us, we would bomb them, and if they escalated, we would go up. We have one subject and one address – Jerusalem, and we do this for the sake of Al-Aqsa and the Sheikh. He said that the mediators asked Hamas for a ceasefire three hours before Israel and we did not agree to that. Israel cannot fight on several fronts and at the same time from within. Hell could develop and therefore Israel is concerned. As talks continue for a ceasefire. The fire, heavy rocket-propelled grenades were fired during the night until one o’clock in the morning at the towns and villages near the border of the Israeli Gaza Strip, but there has been no fire since then. Israeli casualties, except for two people who were lightly injured while fleeing to bomb shelters.A 72-year-old man was moderately wounded yesterday when a building in Sderot was hit. Defense Minister Benny Gantz met with senior officers in the IDF yesterday to discuss achievements during the campaign and procedures Required for the next day for any ceasefire. Gantz approved the targets in Gaza over the next few days. An Israeli army source said that there are still important tasks that must be completed regarding the destruction of tunnels and structures. Terrorist infrastructure throughout the Gaza Strip. Senior defense officials do not believe there will be a ceasefire in the next 24 hours, despite international pressure, but they expect talks with the help of mediators to remain on the right track for the next 48 hours. Israel will reportedly demand long-term quiet, not the old equation of “quiet in exchange for one-minute quiet”. Related articles The Ibrahim Accords have held up despite the conflict in Gaza Hamas and Islamic Jihad took a major hit. The Israeli army is taking a pragmatic approach to matters and feels the need to make arrangements after the ceasefire to prevent a humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip. Some defense sources demand that the responsibility for rebuilding the Gaza Strip be transferred to the Palestinian Authority in order to strengthen its position. At the same time, Defense Ministry sources do not rule out that Hamas wants a longer and longer campaign – a scenario in which the two sides will continue to attack each other for some time to come. This takes into account that Hamas does not fully control the Gaza Strip and that its political leaders such as Ismail Haniyeh and Khaled Meshaal reside abroad in Qatar. Therefore the IDF is also prepared for a long-term operation. Since the start of Operation Guardian of the Walls, 12 Israelis have been killed by rocket fire. According to Palestinian sources, 227 Palestinians were killed, including 63 children, 36 women and 16 elderly people, while 1620 were wounded. Posted by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – May 20, 2021 © Copyright Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2021