Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan signaled on Wednesday in an interview with the Hezbollah-backed Lebanese channel "Al-Manar", that "if the enemy launches an aggressive ground operation in Rafah - the negotiations will be stopped because the resistance does not negotiate under fire," as reported in Israeli media.
Hamdan also referred to the fighting in Gaza and said that "the resistance capabilities [of Hamas] are still high and the resistance is still fine, this while the Zionist elite brigades have collapsed in the Gaza Strip."
He later noted, "The Israeli enemy bet on a decrease in its capabilities, but the resistance was preparing."
Hamdan confirmed that contact with Hamas's two leaders, Muhammad Deif and Yahya Sinwar, is permanent and that constant close monitoring is conducted in the field.
He also added, "There is coordinated action in the field and regular consultation between the resistance axis. How long can this fight last?"
Hamdan said, "One of the most important results of this battle is that the resistance axis is increasing in strength and power." He continued, "What happened through the Iranian response to the Zionist entity established a new equation."
He pointed out that "those who manage the sea dock in Gaza are the American government," noting that "every armed soldier on Gaza soil is an enemy of the Palestinian people. The resistance thwarted the project of a new political authority in the Gaza Strip."
On the other hand, Hamdan said: "We welcomed the Chinese mediation and don't care about any compulsory role. The enemy is trying to blackmail everyone in the Battle of Rafah."
A different atmosphere
Sources in Hamas told the Saudi newspaper Asharq on Tuesday, "This time, there is a different atmosphere and circumstances regarding the proposal regarding a ceasefire."
Hamas members returned to Qatar's capital, Doha, for consultations after the meeting with mediators in Cairo.
The movement's delegation listened to the mediators' clarifications regarding some ambiguous points in the latest truce proposal," the sources said.
This is all while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is holding discussions in Kirya on the contacts for the hostage deal and on whether to send the Israeli negotiating team to Cairo, considering that Hamas's and Yahya Sinwar's answer has not yet arrived.
Israel understands that Hamas' answer to the Egyptian proposal will arrive within a few days—and most likely not in the next 24 hours.