Hamas 'serious' about captives' release but not without Gaza ceasefire

GAZA, Apr 26 (Agencies): Palestinian group Hamas has said it remains committed to achieving an agreement with Israel to end the war on Gaza, but only if its conditions including a lasting ceasefire are met.

Khalil al-Hayya, a member of the group's political bureau, said that Hamas "is serious about releasing Israeli captives within the framework of an agreement" that also ensures the release of thousands of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

He told Al Jazeera Arabic in a televised interview on Thursday that Hamas will not accept a truce without a permanent ceasefire and a complete halt of Israel's assault on the Gaza Strip, which has killed more than 34,000 people - mainly women and children - since the current conflict started in October.

An "unhindered return" of Palestinians across the besieged enclave to their homes, along with the reconstruction of Gaza and "an end to the crippling siege" imposed on it were among the four conditions that al-Hayya reiterated.

Hamas had submitted its response to a United States amendment on April 13 and is still waiting for a reply from Israel and the mediating parties, he said.

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday that campus protests sweeping the United States over the Middle East were part of democracy, but criticised the "silence" over the Palestinian militants Hamas.

Police have carried out large-scale arrests in universities across the United States, at times using chemical irritants and tasers to disperse protests over Israel's war with Hamas.

Speaking in Beijing following a day of meetings with high-ranking officials, Blinken said such protests were a "hallmark of our democracy".

"Our citizens make known their views, their concerns, their anger, at any given time," Blinken said in China, which tightly controls protests.

"I think that reflects the strength of the country," he said.

UN official says it could take 14 years to clear debris in Gaza

The vast amount of rubble including unexploded ordnance left by Israel's devastating war in the Gaza Strip could take about 14 years to remove, a United Nations official said on Friday.

Israel's military campaign against Gaza's ruling Palestinian Islamist group Hamas has reduced much of the narrow, coastal territory of 2.3 million people to a wasteland with most civilians homeless, hungry and at risk of disease.

Pehr Lodhammar, senior officer at the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS), told a briefing in Geneva that the war had left an estimated 37 million tons of debris in the widely urbanised, densely populated territory.

He said that although it was impossible to determine the exact number of unexploded ordnance found in Gaza, it was projected that it could take 14 years under certain conditions to clear debris, including rubble from destroyed buildings.