Hamas refused to participate in a new round of ceasefire talks in Gaza on Thursday, further eroding hopes of a deal to prevent Iranian retaliation against Israel for the killing of a Hamas leader in Tehran last month.
Most observers have low expectations for the ceasefire talks, given Israel’s increasingly assertive stance in recent weeks and concerns that Hamas, now led by its most hardline faction, will make few concessions.
Iran this week rejected calls from Western countries not to retaliate for the killing of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on July 31, just hours after an Israeli attack in Beirut killed a senior commander of Hezbollah, Iran’s ruling group.
The prospect of an Iranian attack on Israel has raised fears of a wider conflict after more than 10 months of fighting in Gaza. U.S. and Iranian officials have both said significant progress toward a ceasefire in Gaza could soon lead to a regional de-escalation.
“That’s my expectation,” US President Joe Biden said in response to Iran’s decision to halt retaliatory attacks if a ceasefire in Gaza is reached.
The White House has warned that a series of significant attacks by Iran and its allies are possible this week. Meanwhile, the US has sent fighter jets, anti-missile warships and guided-missile submarines to the region in support of Israel.
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In April, after two Iranian generals were killed in an attack on Tehran’s embassy in Syria, Iran launched hundreds of drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles toward Israel, damaging two air bases. Nearly all of the weapons were shot down before they reached their targets.
Hamas said mediators from the US, Egypt and Qatar should present a plan to implement Biden’s ceasefire proposal, rather than more rounds of talks or new proposals that provide cover for the Israeli occupation’s aggression.
Hamas says it has shown flexibility during the talks, but Israel’s actions show it is not serious about reaching a ceasefire agreement.
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A Hamas official said the Islamist movement, which seized power in Gaza in 2007, was continuing consultations with mediators. “Hamas wants Biden’s plan to be implemented and does not want to negotiate just to negotiate,” the official said, referring to a ceasefire proposal Biden put forward in late May.
“We must force the occupation government (Israel) to stop its policy of delaying negotiations, and force it to stop slaughtering our people,” he said.
Hamas and Israel disagree on the duration of the ceasefire and the number and types of Palestinian prisoners released from Israeli jails in any deal in return for the freedom of hostages held in Gaza. Hamas wants to end the war definitively, but Israeli negotiators have only offered a cessation of hostilities.
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Successive rounds of talks since late December have failed to bridge the gap.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office confirmed Israel’s participation. “The head of Israel’s foreign spy agency Mossad, David Barnea, and Ronen Bar, the head of the Shin Bet internal security service, are part of the Israeli negotiating team,” Netanyahu’s spokesman said.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog said his country remains on high alert. Fearing attacks from Iran and Hezbollah, the Tel Aviv Museum of Art said it has hidden its most valuable works, including paintings by Pablo Picasso and Gustav Klimt.
“In the last three, four, five days, when new threats from Hezbollah and Iran emerged again, we understood that we needed to take other precautions,” said museum director Tania Coen-Uzzielli.
Biden’s envoy for the conflict, Amos Hochstein, was in Beirut and warned that the clock was ticking for a ceasefire in Gaza. “There is no more time to waste and no more legitimate excuses from any side for further delay,” he said after talks with Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri.
Hezbollah would likely be part of any Iranian attack and has a powerful missile and rocket arsenal that could overwhelm Israel’s air defenses. The militant group has been engaged in a war of attrition with Israel since October.
Western governments have warned against travel to Lebanon and have prepared contingency plans to evacuate their citizens from the region in the event of a full-blown conflict. (The Guardian/Z-2)
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