Hamas has rejected the latest Gaza truce proposal, according to a statement from Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency released by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office on Sunday.

Rejection of the proposal “proves [Hamas Gaza chief Yahya] Rather than wanting a humanitarian deal and the return of the hostages, Sinwar continues to exploit tensions with Iran and works to unite sectors and achieve a comprehensive escalation in the region,” the statement said.

The statement stated that Israel will continue to pursue its Gaza war goals “with all its strength” and will “spare no effort to immediately repatriate the 133 hostages from Gaza.”

Hamas said on Saturday it had submitted a response to Egyptian and Qatari mediators over a proposed truce with Israel in the Gaza Strip, insisting on a “permanent ceasefire.”

Armistice talks began in Cairo on April 7, but so far there has been no breakthrough in the plan proposed by U.S., Qatari and Egyptian mediators.

In a statement, the U.S.-designated terrorist group reiterated its demands for a brokered truce, including “a permanent ceasefire, the withdrawal of occupying forces from the entire Gaza Strip, and the return of displaced persons to their areas and places of residence.” Increase disaster relief and assistance and start reconstruction work. ”

Hamas said it was also ready to “reach a serious and genuine prisoner exchange agreement between the two parties.”

Netanyahu opposes a permanent ceasefire and has vowed to send ground troops to Rafah, ignoring outcry from the international community, including the United States.

Netanyahu’s office said Saturday that “the only obstacle to the kidnappers’ release is Hamas, not anything on the Israeli side.”

Hamas is believed to be holding about 100 hostages, as well as the bodies of about 30 people, who either died in captivity or were killed in the October 7 terrorist attack that sparked the war.

bank of the west

An Israeli teenager who went missing on Friday was found dead in the occupied West Bank, with Israeli authorities saying he was killed in a “terrorist attack.”

“The heinous murder of a boy … is a serious crime,” Netanyahu said in a statement.

The body of the 14-year-old boy was discovered by a drone. He was found near the Malachei Shalom outpost near the city of Ramallah, where he initially disappeared while herding sheep.

The teenager was last seen leaving the settler outpost early Friday to tend to nearby livestock, Israeli media reported.

Reports say the sheep returned to the outpost hours later without him.

So far, no one has claimed responsibility for the teen’s killing.

Benjamin Achmeier’s disappearance triggered widespread searches of Palestinian villages by Israeli settlers and intensified violence.

On Saturday, dozens of Israeli settlers set fire to 12 houses and several cars in a village near the scene of Achmeir’s murder. The Palestinian Health Ministry said three people were injured in the village, one of them seriously. Border police fired tear gas at the gathered villagers in an attempt to disperse them.

Violence broke out on Friday afternoon when Jewish settlers involved in the initial manhunt attacked the village of Al-Mughayyir, about 500 meters west of Marache Shalom, AFP journalists reported.

During Friday’s manhunt, settlers opened fire and burned many houses and cars in the village, while residents responded by throwing rocks, according to an AFP reporter who was present.

Mayor Amin Abu Alia said “settlers attacked the town under the pretext of searching for missing Israeli boys”, adding that “the army arrived to support them”.

Arafat Abu Alia, a resident of Mughayyar, said Israeli forces asked residents to gather on the outskirts of the village.

“More than 10 houses and 50 cars were burned,” he told AFP.

The Palestinian Health Ministry said on Friday that at least one person was killed and 25 injured.

Tensions have been high in the Israeli-occupied territories since the war broke out more than six months ago, when Hamas attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 people and taking about 240 hostages.

Israel subsequently launched an offensive against Hamas in Gaza, killing more than 33,000 people, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

In the West Bank, more than 460 Palestinians have been killed, mostly in skirmishes triggered by army attacks and Israeli settler self-defense forces.

Israel’s expansion of settlements in the occupied West Bank has turned the region into a powder keg. Israel’s outposts there are unauthorized and the international community overwhelmingly considers them illegal. Yet successive Israeli governments have allowed massive Israeli settlement construction in east Jerusalem and the west, which Palestinians see as their future state.

More than 700,000 Israelis currently live in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. There are approximately 490,000 Israeli settlers in the West Bank alone. These territories were occupied by Israel in 1967.

Information for this report was provided in part by The Associated Press, AFP and Reuters.