A senior Hamas leader has said the group is ready to hold talks for a full agreement to end the war in Gaza and to exchange all remaining Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners. However, he strongly rejected Israel’s offer for a short-term ceasefire.

Speaking on TV, Khalil Al-Hayya, Hamas’s leader in Gaza and head of its negotiation team, said the group will no longer accept temporary or partial deals—something Israel is unlikely to agree to. Hayya said that Hamas wants a deal that would include releasing all hostages, stopping the fighting completely, freeing Palestinians held in Israeli jails, and starting the rebuilding of the damaged areas in Gaza. “Netanyahu and his government use partial agreements as a cover for their political agenda, which is based on continuing the war of extermination and starvation, even if the price is sacrificing all his prisoners [hostages],” Hayya said.

Earlier this month, Reuters reported that the Trump administration held direct talks with Hamas in Doha to try to free American hostages being held in Gaza. The talks were reportedly led by Adam Boehler, the U.S. Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs. This was a major change in policy, since the U.S. had previously avoided any direct contact with Hamas, which has been labelled a Foreign Terrorist Organisation by the U.S. State Department since 1997. The main goal of the talks was to secure the release of American citizens, but they also discussed a possible long-term ceasefire and the release of all captives.

In early April, Israel said it would expand its ground operations in Gaza. This includes taking control of important areas and setting up larger security buffer zones. Israel's Defence Minister, Israel Katz, said that civilians would be moved out of the fighting zones. He asked the people of Gaza to stand against Hamas and help free the Israeli hostages, saying this is the only way to end the war.

Evacuation orders have already been given for southern Gaza. Palestinian radio reports that most people have now left the Rafah area in response. On Tuesday, Hamas’s armed group said they had lost contact with the fighters who were guarding Israeli-American soldier Edan Alexander. This happened after an Israeli airstrike hit the area where they were. Alexander is a 21-year-old from New Jersey who was serving in the Israeli army. On Thursday, Israeli airstrikes killed at least 32 Palestinians, including women and children, in different parts of Gaza, according to local health officials. This conflict began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas carried out a surprise attack in southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages. Since then, local officials say more than 51,000 Palestinians have been killed during Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.