The senior official said on Sunday that Hamas’s demand that Israel agree to “a complete and lasting ceasefire” in order to begin talks on a hostage-for-prisoner exchange was “outdated.”
The Hamas representative also said that the mediators from the Gulf emirate of Qatar had promised “that the ceasefire will remain in force for the duration of the negotiations.” On Friday, a high-ranking US official had already announced that a new proposal from Hamas was moving the process forward and might form the basis for concluding an agreement, even if “significant work” still needed to be done.
Continuation of negotiations
Negotiations for a ceasefire are set to continue next week. The Israeli government has announced that it will once more send a delegation to the talks in Qatar. According to sources close to the negotiations, the head of the US foreign intelligence service CIA, William Burns, is also set to take part. According to Hamas, Egypt and Turkey are also planning to act as mediators.
The war between Israel and Hamas has now been going on for ten months. On October 7, fighters from Hamas and other militant Palestinian groups carried out an unprecedented attack on Israel, which triggered the war in the Gaza Strip. According to Israeli sources, 1,195 people were brutally killed in the attack and 251 others were taken hostage to the Gaza Strip. In response to the attack, Israel has since launched a massive military operation in the Gaza Strip. According to figures released on Sunday by the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health, which cannot be independently verified, 38,150 people have been killed so far.
