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<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">War on Gaza: Qassam spokesman
Abu Obaida says Israel rejected deal to release all
captives</h1>
<div class="gmail-credits gmail-reader-credits">MEE staff</div>
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<div class="gmail-reader-estimated-time">July 18, 2025</div>
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<p><font size="1"><img
src="https://www.middleeasteye.net/sites/default/files/styles/article_page/public/images-story/qassam-spokesman-abu-obaida-video-18-jul-2025-reuters.jpg.webp?itok=UuwHEy0R"
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<p><font size="1">Hamas's armed wing spokesperson, Abu
Obaida, speaks in this screen grab from a video
released on 18 July 2025 (Hamas military
handout/Reuters)</font></p>
<p>The official spokesperson for Hamas's armed wing,
the Qassam Brigades, announced on Friday that the
Palestinian group repeatedly offered to release all
the captives held in Gaza at once, as part of a
comprehensive ceasefire deal, but Israel rejected
the offer.</p>
<p>In his first video appearance in more than four
months, Abu Obaida said that Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu and his cabinet "rejected what we
proposed".</p>
<p>"War criminal Netanyahu and his ministers rejected
our offer. It became clear they are not interested
in the fate of their soldiers," he said, accusing
the Israeli leadership of preparing the public for
the possibility that all the captives will die.</p>
<p>His comments came as indirect talks resumed in
Qatar without any progress.</p>
<p>If Israel disavows this round of talks, Abu Obaida
said, Hamas "will not guarantee a return to the
formula of partial [swap] deals or the proposal of
the 10 prisoners".</p>
<p>Earlier this week, sources told Middle East Eye
that the families of Israeli captives held in Gaza
had reached out to Hamas through a representative to
ask about the fate of the ceasefire talks.</p>
<p>The sources told MEE that the representative
reached out to Hamas after the captives' families
feared Netanyahu was trying to torpedo a possible
deal.</p>
<p>A senior figure within Hamas told the
representative to relay to the families that it was
"serious" about reaching an agreement to end the war
and release the captives, but that it was facing
"intransigent Israeli positions", sources told MEE.</p>
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<p>According to sources, the Hamas official told the
representative that the Palestinian movement had
complied with "everything stipulated" in the first
phase of the previous ceasefire, which was supposed
to transition to phase two talks on ending the war. </p>
<p>"Hamas is serious about reaching an agreement to
end the war and establish arrangements that ensure
calm and stability," the sources quoted Hamas as
saying.</p>
<p>"Israel has insisted on continuing the war,
destroying the Gaza Strip, displacing its
population, and imposing a state of hunger,
suffering, and ongoing massacres that have not
ceased for a single day."</p>
<p>Hamas and Israel reached a brief three-stage
ceasefire in January, but the deal collapsed in
March after Israel took back several of its captives
and resumed bombing Gaza, walking away from the deal
before talks with Hamas on a permanent end to the
war could start. </p>
<p>Since then, the Trump administration has given
Israel full backing to wage war on Gaza.</p>
<p>For more than 21 months, Israel has relentlessly
bombed the besieged Gaza Strip, displacing the
entire 2.3 million population multiple times, and
has killed more than 58,000 Palestinians, mostly
women and children.</p>
<h3>'Everyone who can act must do so'</h3>
<p>On Sunday, US President Donald Trump said talks on
a Gaza ceasefire were going along well, repeating
remarks he made a week earlier when Netanyahu
visited Washington.</p>
<p>In contrast, MEE reported on Saturday that Hamas
negotiators were sceptical that a ceasefire
agreement could be reached in the current round of
talks in Doha, Qatar.</p>
<p>Sources close to Palestinian negotiators said talks
have remained deadlocked over at least two of four
key issues.</p>
<p>The first is the extent of the proposed Israeli
withdrawal from the Gaza Strip during a 60-day
truce. The second is the method of aid distribution.</p>
<p>The US has reportedly proposed postponing
discussions on these two points, instead focusing on
the names of Palestinian prisoners to be released by
Israel in exchange for the remaining Israeli
captives.</p>
<p>In Friday's video, Abu Obaida said that Qassam
fighters had killed or wounded hundreds of Israeli
soldiers in recent months after it launched the
operation, "Stones of David."</p>
<p>According to Israeli media, at least 893 Israeli
soldiers have been killed since the Hamas-led
attacks on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, which
sparked the war on Gaza.</p>
<p>In the video, Abu Obaida thanked "all the free
people around the world" who had shown solidarity
with Palestinians and attempted to break the siege
on the enclave. He also heaped praise on Yemen\u2019s
Houthis, calling them "truthful brothers" who
"exposed the cowardice of those who remain passive".</p>
<p>Abu Obaida also strongly criticised Arab leaders
for failing to mobilise their armies in defence of
Palestinians, saying: "The enemy would not have
committed genocide in full view of the nation\u2019s
leaders unless it was assured of impunity,
guaranteed silence, and bought betrayal."</p>
<p>He stressed that no one was exempt from the
responsibility of the bloodshed.</p>
<p>"We do not absolve anyone. Everyone who can act,
according to their ability and influence, must do
so," he said.</p>
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