The group said it wanted a truce plan based on U.S. President Joe Biden’s May 31 ceasefire proposal.
Hamas has asked mediators to present a plan based on previous truce negotiations instead of trying to find a new ceasefire deal in Gaza, days ahead of talks proposed by the United States, Egypt and Qatar.
In a statement on its official Telegram channel, the group said it wanted a plan “based on US President Joe Biden’s May 31 ceasefire proposal, the framework set by Qatari and Egyptian mediators on May 6, and UN Security Council Resolution 2735.”
The May 6 proposal, which Hamas had previously accepted and Israel had rejected, also guarantees the release of Israeli prisoners in Gaza as well as an unspecified number of Palestinians held in Israeli jails.
Hamas’ statement on Sunday added that “the mediators should implement this (May 6) proposal to the (Israeli) occupation instead of pursuing new rounds of negotiations or new proposals that would serve as a cover for the occupation’s aggression and grant it more time to continue its genocide against our people.”
Reporting from Amman, Jordan, Tel Aviv Tribune’s Hamdah Salhut said Israeli media are interpreting Hamas’ statement as a complete rejection of ceasefire negotiations.
“But their (Hamas) statement does not say that. They simply call on the mediators to put on the table the initial proposal that they had agreed on,” she said.
Conferences of August 15
Last week, the leaders of the United States, Egypt and Qatar called on Israel and Hamas to meet for negotiations on August 15, in Cairo or Doha, to finalize a ceasefire agreement in Gaza and the release of captives.
Hamas spokesman Jihad Taha said Saturday that the group’s leadership was “studying” the invitation to the ceasefire talks.
Taha said that “the one that is obstructing the success of the latest proposal is the Israeli occupation” and stressed that “closing the remaining gaps in the ceasefire agreement requires exerting real pressure on the Israeli side, which practiced, and still practices, a policy of placing obstacles in the way of the success of any effort and initiative leading to an end to the aggression.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he will not accept any deal that would end Israel’s war on Gaza without the complete defeat of Hamas. But Israel has said it will send negotiators to attend the August 15 ceasefire meeting.
If the negotiations take place, it will also be the first time that Hamas has entered into negotiations with Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar at its helm following Israel’s assassination of Ismail Haniyeh.
Meanwhile, Israeli strikes on Gaza continue to rage.
An Israeli airstrike on the al-Tabin school compound in Gaza City, home to displaced Palestinian families, killed around 100 people on Saturday.
“Every time there is any movement in these (ceasefire) negotiations, there is a large-scale attack in Gaza and that derails the talks,” Tel Aviv Tribune’s Salhut said.
Hamas said Israel’s al-Tabin school massacre was further “proof that it only wants to escalate its aggression.”
But the group added that despite the attack, it would continue to adhere to the proposal presented by the mediators, to which it had previously agreed.
