Hamas won't join upcoming Gaza ceasefire talks: official

Hamas will not join the upcoming round of Gaza ceasefire and hostage-prisoner swap talks, a group leader said on Wednesday.

"The movement will not be part of the upcoming negotiations set to resume on Thursday, whether they take place in Doha or Cairo," Suhail Hindi told Anadolu news agency.

He said the resistance group has requested a "clear commitment from Israel regarding what was agreed upon on July 2", based on a US President Joe Biden-backed proposal.

"If this happens, Hamas is ready to engage in the implementation mechanisms of the agreement," he added.

On Sunday, Hamas demanded that Gaza ceasefire mediators present a plan to implement a proposal supported by Biden that it had agreed upon on July 2.

It came after Egyptian, Qatari, and US mediators urged Israel and Hamas last week to conclude a ceasefire and hostage-prisoner release deal with no further delays or excuses.

On May 31, US President Joe Biden detailed what he said was an Israeli ceasefire proposal, calling it "a road map" to a lasting truce and freedom for the hostages. It set off the most concentrated US push to bring about an end to the war.

The original proposal involved three phases. The first would last for six weeks and include a "full and complete ceasefire", a withdrawal of Israeli forces from all densely populated areas of Gaza, and the release of a number of hostages, including women, the elderly and the wounded, in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.

Palestinian civilians would be able to return to their homes and humanitarian aid would be increased.

The two sides would use that six-week period to negotiate an agreement on the second phase, which Biden said would include the release of all remaining living hostages, including male soldiers, and Israel's full withdrawal from Gaza. The temporary ceasefire would become permanent.

The third phase would kick off a major reconstruction of Gaza, which faces decades of rebuilding from the devastation caused by the war.

But the talks were thrown into disarray last month when Israel assassinated Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh while he was in Tehran for the Iranian president's inauguration.

Biden said the apparent assassination had "not helped" ceasefire efforts, and the talks were driven into a deep freeze.

That killing came just hours after Israel assassinated a top Hezbollah commander in a strike in Beirut.

Israeli PM Netanyahu has also been scuttling any efforts towards a ceasefire. Netanyahu's critics say he is dragging out the war for his own political survival.

His far-right coalition partners have time and again pledged to topple the government if he agrees to a ceasefire, which could trigger elections that might oust him from power.

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Source: TRT