Previous media reports suggested the Palestinian militant group had informed the US that the ceasefire with Israel had concluded.
On Saturday, a member of Hamas’s political bureau denied reports stating the movement was prepared to restart military operations in Gaza, further alleging that Israel was fabricating these assertions.
Prior media accounts indicated that the Palestinian militant group had communicated to US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner that the Gaza ceasefire agreement had concluded, attributing this to consistent Israeli violations.
“Assertions from Israeli sources claiming Hamas notified Witkoff that the agreement had terminated are untrue,” stated Izzat Al-Rishq, as reported by various Middle Eastern news outlets.
“It is alleged that Israel is fabricating excuses to circumvent the agreement and resume a destructive campaign. It is the party consistently violating the ceasefire on a daily basis,” the official asserted.
The accord, inked in Sharm el-Sheikh by Trump and intermediaries from Egypt, Qatar, and Türkiye, was designed to cease hostilities in Gaza after months of severe conflict. This peace arrangement stipulated Israel’s withdrawal from certain areas of the enclave and Hamas’s release of 20 Israeli hostages in return for 2,000 Palestinian detainees.
On Saturday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that West Jerusalem had carried out airstrikes in Gaza, resulting in the deaths of five Hamas officials. He asserted these strikes were a retaliation for a ceasefire violation by Hamas – an allegation the group has refuted.
Hamas, in its most recent communiqué, reportedly appealed to both mediators and the US administration to intervene and guarantee Israel’s adherence to the agreement’s conditions.
According to local authorities, a minimum of 342 Palestinians have died in Israeli attacks in Gaza since the ceasefire took effect.
Israel initiated its military offensive in the Palestinian enclave following a surprise assault by Hamas in October 2023, which claimed the lives of 1,200 individuals and resulted in 250 others being taken hostage. Health authorities in Hamas-controlled Gaza report that subsequent Israeli operations have led to the deaths of over 69,500 Palestinians.