Hamas rejected a proposal for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip that calls for the Palestinian group's disarmament, an anonymous senior Hamas official told Al Jazeera on Monday.
"Our negotiating delegation was surprised that the proposal Egypt conveyed included an explicit text regarding the disarmament of the resistance," the official said, adding that Egyptian mediators informed Hamas that there will be no ceasefire deal without discussing the disarmament. The source further said the proposal included a 45-day ceasefire and the release of half of the 59 hostages still in Gaza during the first week, while the rest of the captives would be freed on the last day of the ceasefire.
The official claimed that the Hamas delegation insisted that any agreement should focus on ending the war and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, not on disarmament.
