Hamas says war ‘not in our interest’

The leader of the Islamist militant group Hamas told an Israeli newspaper that another war in the Gaza Strip is “definitely not in our interest.”

Hebrew daily Yedioth Ahronoth published a rare interview with Yahya Sinwar yesterday in which he viewed a cease-fire with Israel as entailing “complete calm” and an end to the Israeli-egyptian blockade of Gaza. He said “through war we don’t achieve anything.” The interview ran as Egyptianmediated efforts to strike a cease-fire in Gaza have stalled.

Hamas has organised weekly protests on the border with Israel.