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Israel Says Hamas Has Rejected Hostage Deal Proposal

Posters hang in Tel Aviv, calling for the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza by Palestinian group Hamas, during their conflict with Israel, April 13, 2024. REUTERS/Hannah McKay
Posters hang in Tel Aviv, calling for the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza by Palestinian group Hamas, during their conflict with Israel, April 13, 2024. REUTERS/Hannah McKay
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Israel Says Hamas Has Rejected Hostage Deal Proposal

Posters hang in Tel Aviv, calling for the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza by Palestinian group Hamas, during their conflict with Israel, April 13, 2024. REUTERS/Hannah McKay
Posters hang in Tel Aviv, calling for the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza by Palestinian group Hamas, during their conflict with Israel, April 13, 2024. REUTERS/Hannah McKay

Hamas has rejected the latest proposal for a deal to return Israeli hostages and Israel will continue to pursue its objectives in Gaza "with full force", Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said in a statement.
The statement said that the rejection of the proposals showed that Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas in Gaza, did not want a deal and was trying to exploit tensions with Iran and bring about a regional escalation of the conflict, Reuters reported.
Israel wants to secure the return of hostages seized by Hamas in its Oct. 7 attack that triggered the war, but says it will not stop fighting until Hamas is destroyed as a military force. It also says it still plans to carry out an assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where more than a million civilians have taken refuge.
Hamas said on Saturday it was ready to conclude a prisoners-for-hostages swap deal with Israel that would see the release of 133 hostages still believed to be held in Gaza in return for hundreds of Palestinians jailed in Israel.

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Netanyahu Says Israel Is Establishing a New Security Corridor across Gaza

An internally displaced Palestinian walks at the site of a UN clinic following an Israeli airstrike, in the Jabalia refugee camp, northern Gaza Strip, 02 April 2025. (EPA)
An internally displaced Palestinian walks at the site of a UN clinic following an Israeli airstrike, in the Jabalia refugee camp, northern Gaza Strip, 02 April 2025. (EPA)
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Netanyahu Says Israel Is Establishing a New Security Corridor across Gaza

An internally displaced Palestinian walks at the site of a UN clinic following an Israeli airstrike, in the Jabalia refugee camp, northern Gaza Strip, 02 April 2025. (EPA)
An internally displaced Palestinian walks at the site of a UN clinic following an Israeli airstrike, in the Jabalia refugee camp, northern Gaza Strip, 02 April 2025. (EPA)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel is establishing a new security corridor across the Gaza Strip.

In a statement on Wednesday, he described it as the Morag corridor, using the name of a Jewish settlement that once stood between Rafah and Khan Younis, suggesting it would run between the two southern cities.

His comments came as Palestinian officials at hospitals inside Gaza said Israeli strikes overnight and into Wednesday had killed more than 40 people, nearly a dozen of them children.

The Israeli government has long maintained a buffer zone just inside Gaza along its security fence and has greatly expanded since the war against Hamas began in 2023. Israel says the buffer zone is needed for its security, while Palestinians view it as a land grab that further shrinks the narrow coastal territory, home to around 2 million people.