GAZA CITY, Gaza City — A senior Hamas official told supporters at a Gaza City rally on Thursday that the war with Israel won’t be over until the group’s demands for a lifting of the Gaza blockade are met, insisting that its fighters would never give up their arms.

“Our fingers are on the trigger and our rockets are trained at Tel Aviv,” the official, Mushir al-Masri said, as Egypt struggled to broker a lasting truce between Israel and Hamas, with an Egyptian official saying that Gaza-based militants were refusing to compromise.

Cairo is mediating indirect talks between Israel and Hamas on extending a 72-hour cease-fire that expires Friday morning. Hamas has demanded the lifting of an Israeli and Egyptian blockade imposed on the coastal territory after the Islamic militant group seized power in 2007.

Israel has said the militants must disarm first, which al-Masri insisted was out of the question.