Hamas announced on Sunday it will not attend a final round of negotiations for a ceasefire and hostage release agreement set for Thursday.
Israel immediately accepted last week’s invitation by the United States, Egypt and Qatar to attend the meeting, which is due to take place in either Cairo or Doha.
Despite the terrorist group deciding not to send representatives to the talks, mediators are still planning on holding them, Kan News reported.
In its official statement, Hamas called on mediators to present a plan to implement what it said it had agreed last month, based on “[President Joe] Biden’s vision and the UN Security Council resolution”.
The statement went on to say that the mediators “should enforce this on the occupation [Israel] instead of pursuing further rounds of negotiations or new proposals that would provide cover for the occupation’s aggression and grant it more time to continue its genocide against our people.”
A senior Israeli official involved in the negotiations told the news website Axios that the Hamas statement was “a tactical move ahead of a possible attack by Iran and Hezbollah and in an attempt to get better terms for the deal”.
The official added: “If Hamas won’t come to the table, we will continue decimating their forces in Gaza.”
The Hamas announcement comes after Israeli sources told CNN on Sunday that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar had indicated to Egyptian and Qatari mediators that it was interested in ending the 10-month war sparked by the Hamas-led invasion of the northwestern Negev on October 7.
Biden said during an interview with CBS News on Sunday that he believed that a Gaza ceasefire is still possible before he leaves office.
“Yes. It’s still possible. The plan I put together, endorsed by the G7, endorsed by the U.N. Security Council, et cetera, is still viable,” the president said. “And I’m working literally every single day—and my whole team—to see to it that it doesn’t escalate into a regional war. But it easily can.”
The threat of a wider war is at its highest point since the October 7 massacre, with both Iran and Hezbollah vowing to attack Israel after the killings two weeks ago of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and Hezbollah senior commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut.
Amid concern about a regional conflagration, Channel 12 reported that U.S. officials are pushing their Israeli counterparts to finalise a deal as soon as possible.
US, Egyptian and Qatari leaders released a statement on August 8 that called jointly for an immediate conclusion to talks between Israel and Hamas about a ceasefire and hostage release agreement.
“It is time to bring immediate relief both to the long-suffering people of Gaza as well as the long-suffering hostages and their families,” the three stated. “The time has come to conclude the ceasefire and hostages and detainees release deal.”
The statement, signed by Biden, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, called on both sides to resume urgent talks on August 15 in either Doha or Cairo.
The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office stated almost immediately that it would send a negotiating delegation.
“Pursuant to the proposal by the U.S. and the mediators, Israel will—on Aug. 15—send the negotiations team to a place to be determined in order to finalize the details of the implementation of the framework agreement,” it said.
