Hamas to continue truce talks as Ramadan nears
The Palestinian militant group Hamas has indicated it will continue working towards achieving a ceasefire in Gaza with Israel despite the absence of Israeli negotiators from the latest round of talks in Cairo.
Relatives of Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza and their supporters protest outside the US Ambassy in Tel Aviv, Israel, 05 March 2024. Protesters called for the immediate release of all hostages. EPA/ABIR SULTAN
“We are showing the required flexibility in order to reach a comprehensive cessation of aggression against our people, but the occupation is still evading the entitlements of this agreement,” Hamas said in a statement.
Negotiators from Hamas, Qatar and Egypt – but not Israel – are in Cairo trying to secure a 40-day ceasefire in the war between Israel and the Islamist group in time for the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which begins early next week.
US President Joe Biden said on Tuesday it was in the hands of Hamas whether to accept a deal for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip in exchange for the release of Israeli hostages as delegations held a third day of talks with no sign of a breakthrough.
The deal presented to Hamas would free some hostages captured by Palestinian militants in the October 7 on Israel which sparked the war, while aid to Gaza would be increased to try to avert famine as hospitals treat acutely malnourished children, and Hamas would provide a list of all the hostages held in Gaza.
The United States on Tuesday revised language in a draft UN Security Council resolution to back “an immediate ceasefire of roughly six-weeks in Gaza together with the release of all hostages”.
The third revision of the text – first proposed by the United States two weeks ago – reflects remarks by Vice-President Kamala Harris calling on Israel to do more to ease the “humanitarian catastrophe” in Gaza.
The release of sick, wounded, elderly and women hostages would result in an immediate ceasefire in Gaza of at least six weeks, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani stressed at a meeting on Tuesday, the White House said.
“This first phase of a ceasefire would also enable a surge of humanitarian assistance to the people of Gaza, and provide time and space to secure more enduring arrangements and sustained calm,” the statement said.
Earlier in Beirut, Hamas official Osama Hamdan repeated his group’s main demands: an end to the Israeli military offensive, withdrawal of Israeli forces, and the return of all Gazans to the homes they had been forced to flee.
He said any exchange of prisoners could not take place except after a ceasefire.
Israel for its part wants merely a pause in fighting to get hostages out of Gaza and more aid in, insisting it will not end the conflict before Hamas is “eliminated”.
Washington, Israel’s main political and military backer and a sponsor of the talks, also put the onus squarely on Gaza’s rulers.
“It’s in the hands of Hamas right now. Israelis have been cooperating. There’s been a rational offer,” Biden told reporters.
“If we get to the circumstance that it continues to Ramadan … it’s gonna be very dangerous.”
Palestinian-Israeli violence in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories often spikes during Ramadan, as does hostility towards Israel in the Arab and Muslim world, creating a strong incentive for leaders to clinch a deal before then.
Hamas says Washington’s stance is designed to deflect blame from Israel if the talks collapse.
A source had told Reuters earlier that Israel was staying away because Hamas had refused to furnish a list of hostages who are still alive.
Senior Hamas official Bassem Naim said this was impossible without a ceasefire as hostages were scattered across the war zone.
The US has also urged Israel to do more to alleviate the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, where more than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel’s assault, launched after Hamas attacks that killed 1200 people in October.
Famine looms over the Gaza Strip as aid supplies have dwindled to barely a trickle.
Gaza’s few functioning hospitals are filling with children starving to death.
The US military, in co-ordination with Jordan, airdropped 36,000 meals into northern Gaza on Tuesday, a program Washington began last week.
Aid agencies say this is paltry compared with the scale of the hunger.
AAP
