Hamas wants Gaza mediation based on past talks only

CAIRO: Palestinian group Hamas on Sunday asked mediators to present a plan based upon previous talks instead of engaging in new negotiations for a Gaza ceasefire deal.
Last week, leaders of the United States, Egypt and Qatar called on Israel and Hamas to meet for negotiations on August 15 in either Cairo or Doha to finalise a Gaza ceasefire and prisoner deal.
Israel said it would send negotiators to take part in the meeting. Hamas initially said it was studying the offer but hinted it may stay out of the new round of talks.
“The movement calls on the mediators to present a plan to implement what was agreed upon by the movement on July 2, 2024, based on Biden’s vision and the UN Security Council resolution,” Hamas said in a statement.
“The mediators should enforce this on the occupation (Israel) instead of pursuing further rounds of negotiations or new proposals that would provide cover for the occupation’s aggression and grant it more time to continue its genocide against our people,” the statement said.
Hamas said it has shown flexibility throughout the negotiating process but that Israeli actions, including what Hamas has said was its assassination of the group’s leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran late last month, indicate that it is not serious about pursuing a ceasefire agreement. Israel has not denied or claimed responsibility.
President Joe Biden laid out a three-phase ceasefire proposal in an address on May 31. Washington and regional mediators have since tried arranging the Gaza ceasefire-for-hostages deal but have run into repeated obstacles.
Separately, Germany’s chancellor has told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a phone call that he should conclude a deal on a ceasefire and the release of prisoners held by Hamas, a German government spokesperson said on Sunday.
Many military objectives in the fight against Hamas have been achieved while civilian casualties and human suffering in Gaza are enormous, Olaf Scholz told Netanyahu, according to a German government statement. “An end to the war in Gaza would be a decisive step towards a regional de-escalation,” the spokesperson said.
Scholz “emphasised that now was the time to finalise the agreement on the release of the hostages and a ceasefire”.
Published in Dawn, August 12th, 2024