Israel and Hamas dig in as international pressure builds for a ceasefire in Gaza

Hamas has rejected the latest proposal put forward by international mediators for a ceasefire and hostage release and Israel has blasted a UN Security Council resolution that called for both without linking them.

As the war in Gaza grinds through a sixth month, each side has publicly insisted that its own idea of victory is within reach, and late on Monday they rejected the latest international efforts to stem the bloodshed.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel can achieve its aims of dismantling Hamas and returning scores of hostages if it expands its ground offensive to the southern city of Rafah.

More than half of Gaza’s population has sought refuge in Rafah, many in crowded tent camps.

Hamas has said it will hold onto the hostages until Israel agrees to a more permanent ceasefire, withdraws its forces from Gaza and releases hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, including top militants.

It said that it has rejected a recent proposal that fell short of those demands, which, if fulfilled, would allow it to claim an extremely costly victory.

Mr Netanyahu said in a statement that the announcement “proved clearly that Hamas is not interested in continuing negotiations toward a deal and served as unfortunate testimony to the damage of the Security Council decision”.

“Israel will not surrender to Hamas’ delusional demands and will continue to act to achieve all the goals of the war: releasing all the hostages, destroying Hamas’ military and governing capabilities and ensuring that Gaza will never again be a threat to Israel.”

There is no end in sight to the war, which has killed over 32,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

The fighting has left much of the Gaza Strip in ruins, displaced most of its residents and driven a third of its population of 2.3 million to the brink of famine.

An Israeli strike on a residential building in Rafah where three displaced families were sheltering killed at least 16 people, including nine children and four women, according to hospital records and relatives of the deceased.

On Monday, the Security Council finally managed to pass a resolution calling for a ceasefire.

The United States abstained instead of vetoing the measure, angering Israel in a major escalation of tensions between the two close allies.

The resolution calls for the release of all hostages held in Gaza but does not condition the ceasefire on it.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz told Army Radio on Tuesday that the resolution had emboldened Hamas by signalling that international pressure would end the war without it having to make any concessions.

Mr Katz said: “The message delivered to Hamas yesterday … is that you don’t have to hurry.”

The war began on October 7, when Hamas-led militants stormed across the border and attacked communities in southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting around 250 others.

It is still believed to be holding about 100 hostages and the remains of 30 others, after many were freed in November in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners.

The United States, Qatar and Egypt have spent several weeks trying to negotiate another ceasefire and hostage release, but those efforts appeared to have stalled.

Hamas said in a statement late on Monday that it has informed the mediators it will stick to an earlier position.

Hamas said Israel has not responded to its core demands of a “comprehensive ceasefire, an (Israeli) withdrawal from the Strip, the return of displaced people and a real prisoner exchange”.

Majed al-Ansari, a spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry of Qatar, which is currently hosting the talks, told reporters that the negotiations were still ongoing, without providing details.

Hamas has previously proposed a phased process in which it would release all the remaining hostages in exchange for a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, the opening of its borders for aid and reconstruction, and the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, including top militants serving life sentences.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected those demands as unrealistic.

He has vowed to resume Israel’s offensive after any hostage release and keep fighting until Hamas is destroyed, saying it is the only way to prevent a repeat of the October 7 attack.

But he has provided few details about what would follow any such victory and has largely rejected a post-war vision outlined by the US.

That approach has brought him into increasingly open conflict with President Joe Biden’s administration, which has expressed mounting concern over civilian casualties while supplying Israel with crucial military aid and backing Israel’s aim of destroying Hamas.

The US had vetoed previous UN resolutions calling for a ceasefire.

The White House has urged Israel not to undertake a major ground operation in Rafah, warning that it could cause a humanitarian catastrophe.

The administration was set to brief visiting Israeli officials on an alternative approach, but Mr Netanyahu called off their visit in response to the US abstention.

Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant is in Washington on a separate trip, however, and is to meet with US defence secretary Lloyd Austin on Tuesday.

On Monday, Mr Gallant vowed to continue the offensive until Israel’s aims are met.

“We will operate against Hamas everywhere — including in places where we have not yet been,” he said.

“We have no moral right to stop the war while there are still hostages held in Gaza.”