Hamas appeared to dash any hopes of a second humanitarian cease-fire on Thursday after stating that there was no hostages-for-prisoners swap until Israel agrees to end its military operation in Gaza.

"There is a Palestinian national decision that there should be no talks about prisoners or exchange deals except after a full cessation of aggression," Hamas said in a statement Thursday, claiming it speaks on behalf of all Palestinians.

Israel had proposed a fresh pause in fighting in exchange for Hamas releasing hostages in Gaza.

Hamas's comments come after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had himself dismissed the possibility of a pause on Wednesday.

"Whoever thinks that we will stop is detached from reality," Netanyahu said. "We will not stop the fighting until all of the goals that we have set are achieved: the elimination of Hamas, the release of our hostages, and the removal of the threat from Gaza."

Despite the rejections, talks continued in Cairo, with hopes to bring a new cease-fire to life. There are about 120 Israel hostages still under the control of Hamas and their allies.

In the meantime, the United Nations Security Council will again try to hold a vote on a resolution calling for a stoppage in fighting. The vote has been delayed three times as diplomats try to craft a resolution with language that won't bring a veto by the United States.

Connecticut man sentenced in attempt to travel to Syria to fight for ISIS
 Washington DC (UPI) Dec 21, 2023 –

A Connecticut man was convicted Thursday for attempting to travel to Syria to support ISIS.

Kevin Iman McCormick, 30, of Hamden, Conn., was sentenced to 144 months in prison, followed by a lifetime of supervised releases, for attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, according to a court release.

According to court documents, McCormick made several statements in 2019 to others expressing his desire to travel to Syria to fight for ISIS, a designated foreign terrorist organization.

In August 2019, McCormick told members of a Muslim community center "we should support ISIS" and "jihad is the way to go."

Court documents also stated McCormick told someone "I gotta fight, bro, because those people … and [the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant], they fought for me, bro. I know it, I can feel it in my heart. So it's my time to fight … It just is what it is, bro, it's just my — it's just my time to go, bro."

He also reportedly told the person that "it's gonna be very hard to kill me."

McCormick was arrested on Oct. 21, 2019, when he attempted to board a plane from Connecticut to Canada. He pleaded guilty on Jan. 12 to attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization.

It was not the first time McCormick attempted to leave the country to fight for ISIS.

In the weeks prior to his arrest, he attempted to board a flight from Connecticut to Jamaica but was prevented from doing so by the Department of Homeland Security. He then reportedly told a person he wanted to travel to Jamaica and from there to Syria to join ISIS. Days later, he made a video in which he pledged allegiance to ISIS and its then-leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, according to court documents.

The FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force investigated the case with assistance from the Transportation Security Administration.