KONTAN.CO.ID - JAKARTA. CAIRO / WASHINGTON / RAFAH, Gaza Strip - On Wednesday (5/9), the Palestinian liberation group Hamas declared its unwillingness to offer further concessions to Israel in the ongoing ceasefire negotiations in Gaza.

This stance by Hamas persists despite the ongoing negotiations in Cairo aimed at temporarily halting the seven-month-old Israeli offensive.

As we know, Israel continued its large-scale assault with tanks and airstrikes on the city of Rafah in southern Gaza on Wednesday.

Zionist Israel also threatened to launch a major attack on the city. 

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Israeli forces moved through the Rafah border with Egypt on Tuesday, cutting off a vital humanitarian aid route and the only exit for evacuating wounded patients.

Izzat El-Reshiq, a member of Hamas's political office in Qatar, stated on Wednesday night that they would not compromise any further, beyond the ceasefire proposal they had already accepted on Monday.

This compromise also included efforts to free several Israeli hostages in Gaza and Israel. Conversely, Hamas also demanded the release of Palestinian women and children detained in Israel.

“Israel is not serious about reaching an agreement and is using these negotiations as a cover to attack Rafah and occupy the border,” said Reshiq.

There has been no direct comment from Israel, which stated on Monday that the three-phase proposal agreed upon by Hamas was unacceptable, as its conditions had been softened.

Delegations from Hamas, Israel, the US, Egypt, and Qatar have been holding negotiations in Cairo since Tuesday. 

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Citing a senior source, Al Qahera TV, affiliated with the Egyptian government, reported that the talks in Cairo continued throughout Wednesday into the night.

The United States stated on Tuesday that Hamas fighters had revised their ceasefire proposal and that this revision could break the deadlock in the negotiations.

Just a few hours before Hamas's latest statement, Washington continued to assert that both parties were not far from an agreement.

"We believe there is a path to an agreement... Both sides are close enough that they should do what they can to reach an agreement," said US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan to reporters.

The United States claimed to be working to prevent a full Israeli invasion of Rafah. America also claimed to have pressured Israel to agree to a ceasefire. 

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According to a senior US official, who spoke to Reuters anonymously, Washington halted the shipment of 1,800 2,000-pound bombs and 1,700 500-pound bombs due to concerns about striking civilians in Palestinian Rafah.

Israel stated that they had to attack Rafah to defeat the thousands of Hamas fighters they believe are hiding there. 

However, this city also serves as a refuge for hundreds of thousands of Palestinian civilians fleeing from the fighting in the northern Gaza region.

The United Nations, Gaza residents, and humanitarian groups have warned that Israel's massive assault on Rafah could lead to a broader humanitarian disaster in Palestine.

The Palestinian liberation group Hamas reported that its fighters were battling Israeli forces in eastern Rafah on Wednesday, and Islamic Jihad fighters were attacking Israeli soldiers and military vehicles with heavy artillery near the city's long-abandoned airport.

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Israeli tank fire landed in the middle of Rafah, injuring at least 25 people on Wednesday, according to medical officials. Residents reported that Israeli airstrikes killed four people and injured 16 others in western Rafah.

The attacks and genocide by Israeli forces have killed 34,844 Palestinians in seven months of war, most of whom were civilians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

The war began when the Palestinian liberation group Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200 people and kidnapping 252 others, 128 of whom are still being held hostage in Gaza and 36 have been declared dead, according to the latest Israeli figures.

Editor: Syamsul Azhar