Hamas demands Israel end Gaza blockade as part of ceasefire deal

Hamas is demanding that Israel lift its debilitating 17-year-long blockade on Gaza, and that Israeli forces fully withdraw from the territory in the initial stage of the US-mediated ceasefire proposal, Middle East Eye can reveal.

According to amendments submitted to Egyptian and Qatari mediators earlier this week, Hamas demanded an end to the siege on Gaza which would allow the free movement of people and goods into the territory.

The Israeli land, air and sea blockade, which began after Hamas won the 2006 Palestinian legislative elections, has left the more than two million Palestinians living there in conditions described by rights groups as an open-air prison.

Israel's public rationale for imposing the siege has been focused on the security of its citizens and holding Hamas, which it considers to be a terrorist group, accountable for rocket attacks on them.

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