Milan. 15 Apr. (LaPresse) – Hamas has rejected an Israeli proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza lasting six weeks, during which the Palestinian group would be asked to lay down its arms. The BBC reports this, quoting a senior Palestinian official, according to whom the plan did not include any commitment to end the war or to the withdrawal of Israeli troops, key demands of Hamas, in exchange for the release of half of the hostages still alive in Gaza. Hamas reported that it had lost contact with the kidnappers holding soldier Edan Alexander hostage in the Gaza Strip, following an Israeli army bombardment. ‘We announce that we have lost contact with the team guarding soldier Edan Alexander following an Israeli bombardment directed against their position. We are still trying to reach them’, said Hudhaifa Kahlout, known by the nom de guerre Abu Obeida, spokesman for the al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas. ‘It seems that the occupation army is deliberately trying to kill him and thus free itself from the pressure caused by prisoners with dual citizenship in order to continue its genocide against our people,’ Abu Obeida added. Edan Alexander, a dual US-Israeli citizen, is a soldier who was stationed near the Gaza Strip on the morning of 7 October when he was captured by Hamas.
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