Hamas confirmed that its delegation would leave Cairo on Thursday, March 7, where it arrived on Sunday for discussions for a truce in the Gaza Strip, affirming that Israel’s position did not meet its ” minimum requirements “.
2 mins
“ Hamas delegation leaves Cairo » for “consultations” with the leadership of the movement in Doha, a senior official of the Palestinian Islamist movement participating in the discussions told AFP, on condition of anonymity. We are still waiting for the final official response from the enemy “, he added in reference to Israel, but “ initial responses do not meet minimum requirements » formulated by Hamas and relating in particular to a definitive ceasefire and a withdrawal of Israeli troops, added this source, without giving details.
“ Mediators will decide when negotiations will resume “, he said again. Faced with the humanitarian disaster and the heavy toll among the civilian population, the United States, Qatar and Egypt are trying to reach an agreement on a pause in the fighting before Ramadan, which begins at the beginning of next week.
Read alsoGaza: Israel-Hamas negotiations in Cairo, the issue of the truce
Representatives of these three countries have been discussing a possible six-week truce since Sunday with a Hamas delegation, but without an Israeli presence. Mahmoud Mardaoui, another Hamas official, claimed that “ the decision is in the hands of Washington » who must decide « if he really wants to put pressure on (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu and his government to reach an agreement “. “ If Israel is serious and does not procrastinate, it is possible to reach a ceasefire agreement before the start of Ramadan “, Sunday or Monday, he said.
As a reminder, this war was triggered on October 7 by an attack of unprecedented scale carried out by Hamas commandos infiltrated from the Gaza Strip in southern Israel, which cost the lives of at least 1,160 people, most of them civilians. , according to a count from Agence France-Presse based on official Israeli data. In retaliation, Israel vowed to annihilate Hamas. Its army launched a bombing campaign coupled with a ground offensive which has so far left 30,800 dead in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to the latest report put forward this Thursday by the Hamas Ministry of Health.