CAIRO, May 5. /TASS/. Hamas is still committed to efforts towards a comprehensive ceasefire agreement for the Gaza Strip, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said.

"As before, Hamas wants to reach a comprehensive agreement that would provide for the cessation of Israel’s aggression and the signing of a serious deal on prisoner exchange, and would guarantee the withdrawal of the enemy troops from the enclave," he said, adding that a ceasefire is a "cornerstone issue that will help lay the basis for a stable future."

According to Haniyeh, the Hamas delegation has arrived at the current talks "with a positive mood and flexible positions."

The As-Sharq television channel said earlier, citing Hamas sources, that radicals see no serious obstacles for reaching an agreement on a ceasefire and the exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners. Egypt’s proposal, according to the sources, is "quite acceptable," but some of its provisions require additional explanations.

Al Hadath said on May 4 that the Cairo consultations had yielded Hamas’ consent to release 33 hostages at the first phase of agreements with Israel, although when the settlement dialogue only began, it claimed that it held about 20 persons who could be released on these conditions. According to the TV channel’s sources, at the initial phase of talks, Hamas did not know about hostages held by other radical groups in Gaza and it tool time to collect data about them.

Meanwhile, the Sada al-Balad television channel said on Saturday that "the negotiators in Cairo reached progress on technical aspects of a potential agreement," but, according to some of them, "even if Hamas accepts the proposal, it will take time to agree upon concrete details" of the ceasefire and "discussions may be quite lengthy and difficult." However, according to the Al Arabiya television channel, Hamas and Israel will finally reach a deal unless new obstacles emerge.

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7 after militants from the Gaza Strip-based radical Palestinian group Hamas launched a surprise incursion on Israeli territory, killing many Israeli kibbutz residents living near the Gaza border and abducting more than 240 Israelis, including women, children and the elderly. Israel declared a total blockade of the Gaza Strip and launched bombardments of the enclave and some areas in Lebanon and Syria, as well as a ground operation against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Clashes are also reported in the West Bank.

In late November 2023, Hamas announced an agreement with Israel, which was brokered by Egypt and Qatar, on a four-day humanitarian truce in the Gaza Strip, which took effect on November 24. The sides extended the ceasefire several times but on the morning of December 1 the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that Hamas had violated the truce in Gaza and opened fire on Israeli territory, thus prompting the IDF to resume combat operations in the Gaza Strip.