War on Gaza: Qassam spokesman Abu Obaida says Israel rejected deal to release all captives
The official spokesperson for Hamas's armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, announced on Friday that the Palestinian group repeatedly offered to release all the captives held in Gaza at once, as part of a comprehensive ceasefire deal, but Israel rejected the offer.
In his first video appearance in more than four months, Abu Obaida said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his cabinet "rejected what we proposed".
"War criminal Netanyahu and his ministers rejected our offer. It became clear they are not interested in the fate of their soldiers," he said, accusing the Israeli leadership of preparing the public for the possibility that all the captives will die.
His comments came as indirect talks resumed in Qatar without any progress.
If Israel disavows this round of talks, Abu Obaida said, Hamas "will not guarantee a return to the formula of partial [swap] deals or the proposal of the 10 prisoners".
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Earlier this week, sources told Middle East Eye that the families of Israeli captives held in Gaza had reached out to Hamas through a representative to ask about the fate of the ceasefire talks.
The sources told MEE that the representative reached out to Hamas after the captives' families feared Netanyahu was trying to torpedo a possible deal.
A senior figure within Hamas told the representative to relay to the families that it was "serious" about reaching an agreement to end the war and release the captives, but that it was facing "intransigent Israeli positions", sources told MEE.
According to sources, the Hamas official told the representative that the Palestinian movement had complied with "everything stipulated" in the first phase of the previous ceasefire, which was supposed to transition to phase two talks on ending the war.
"Hamas is serious about reaching an agreement to end the war and establish arrangements that ensure calm and stability," the sources quoted Hamas as saying.
"Israel has insisted on continuing the war, destroying the Gaza Strip, displacing its population, and imposing a state of hunger, suffering, and ongoing massacres that have not ceased for a single day."
Hamas and Israel reached a brief three-stage ceasefire in January, but the deal collapsed in March after Israel took back several of its captives and resumed bombing Gaza, walking away from the deal before talks with Hamas on a permanent end to the war could start.
Since then, the Trump administration has given Israel full backing to wage war on Gaza.
For more than 21 months, Israel has relentlessly bombed the besieged Gaza Strip, displacing the entire 2.3 million population multiple times, and has killed more than 58,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children.
'Everyone who can act must do so'
On Sunday, US President Donald Trump said talks on a Gaza ceasefire were going along well, repeating remarks he made a week earlier when Netanyahu visited Washington.
In contrast, MEE reported on Saturday that Hamas negotiators were sceptical that a ceasefire agreement could be reached in the current round of talks in Doha, Qatar.
Sources close to Palestinian negotiators said talks have remained deadlocked over at least two of four key issues.
The first is the extent of the proposed Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip during a 60-day truce. The second is the method of aid distribution.
The US has reportedly proposed postponing discussions on these two points, instead focusing on the names of Palestinian prisoners to be released by Israel in exchange for the remaining Israeli captives.
In Friday's video, Abu Obaida said that Qassam fighters had killed or wounded hundreds of Israeli soldiers in recent months after it launched the operation, "Stones of David."
According to Israeli media, at least 893 Israeli soldiers have been killed since the Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, which sparked the war on Gaza.
In the video, Abu Obaida thanked "all the free people around the world" who had shown solidarity with Palestinians and attempted to break the siege on the enclave. He also heaped praise on Yemen’s Houthis, calling them "truthful brothers" who "exposed the cowardice of those who remain passive".
Abu Obaida also strongly criticised Arab leaders for failing to mobilise their armies in defence of Palestinians, saying: "The enemy would not have committed genocide in full view of the nation’s leaders unless it was assured of impunity, guaranteed silence, and bought betrayal."
He stressed that no one was exempt from the responsibility of the bloodshed.
"We do not absolve anyone. Everyone who can act, according to their ability and influence, must do so," he said.
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