Hamas’ insistence on an immediate end to fighting caused the current round of peace talks to collapse, an unnamed Israeli official told the Times of Israel.
“Hamas wants to declare victory, that’s its entire aim in the talks,” the official said.
Yoav Gallant, the Israeli defence minister, told his US counterpart earlier that a Hamas refusal to discuss the “frameworks at hand” meant Tel Aviv now needed to take military action.
On Friday, reports indicated that Yahya Sinwar, Hamas’ leader, had demanded an unconditional end to fighting before the group signed any peace deal with Israel.
The Egyptian-mediated proposal had originally stipulated that a phased de-escalation in fighting would only occur after an initial exchange of prisoners and hostages between Hamas and Israel.
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