Hamas says it will stick to a U.S.-drafted proposal it accepted in July for a cease-fire and the release of hostages.
Hamas says it does not accept the new conditions set by Israel in the ceasefire talks.
On Sunday, the Israeli delegation traveled to Cairo, the capital of Egypt, to continue negotiations. Hamas has announced that it will stick to the cease-fire proposal presented by the United States in May, and therefore will not participate in the negotiations directly.
In the negotiations mediated by the United States, Egypt and Qatar, the biggest stumbling block is currently the management of the border between Egypt and Gaza. According to the current agreement framework, Israeli forces would remain in the border area.
According to Hamas, Israel has backed away from its commitment to withdraw its forces from the area and has set new conditions. Among these, according to Hamas, is that Israeli forces should be allowed to check Gaza residents before they return to their homes in the northern part of the territory.
– We do not accept new conditions or retreats from what we agreed on July 2, Hamas representative Osama Hamdan says the extremist organization’s television channel.
In July, Hamas accepted a proposal that would have started negotiations on the release of the hostages 16 days after the first phase of the ceasefire was completed.
According to Hamdan, Hamas has submitted its response to the latest proposal to the mediators.
Source: Reuters