Hamas official Osama Hamdan has warned that if Israel’s military aggression continues in Rafah, there will be no ceasefire deal, Reuters reports.

Hamdan’s comments were made during a press conference in Beirut as a delegation from Hamas, the group that runs the Gaza Strip, arrived in Cairo from Doha to continue ceasefire negotiations, a statement from the group said.

“We affirm that the military operation in Rafah if carried out by Israel, will not be a picnic for the (Israeli) army,” Hamdan said.

“The ball is in Netanyahu’s court,” he added, saying that the latest ceasefire proposal which Hamas agreed to “represents the minimum that responds to the demands of our people and our resistance.”

“The Rafah crossing was and will remain a purely Egyptian-Palestinian crossing,” Hamdan said.

Editorial

Updated 01 Aug, 2026

Maritime alliance

AS the US-Iran war drags on, new battle lines are being drawn. The pro-US Gulf Arab monarchies and Iran have enjoyed...
01 Aug, 2026

Local governance

INTERIOR Minister Mohsin Naqvi’s speech at a business summit on Thursday has stirred a hornet’s nest. His...
01 Aug, 2026

Murders in Balochistan

GOOD news is scarce in Balochistan. Seven labourers were abducted and gunned down in Turbat city recently. Four...
31 Jul, 2026

Expanding conflict

WITH neither of the belligerents willing to back down, and the theatre of conflict expanding geographically, the...
31 Jul, 2026

Spoils and spats

A FIGHT over assembly seats in Azad Jammu and Kashmir has laid bare what seem to be some deep resentments between ...
31 Jul, 2026

Unfair tax system

THE disclosure that the FBR collected nearly Rs1.9tr in sales and income taxes through electricity bills over the...