A Hamas official stated that the movement has decided to postpone its participation in the negotiations scheduled to begin Wednesday in Egypt, with the participation of other Palestinian factions and Egyptian, Qatari, and Turkish mediators. Hamas called for creating a conducive atmosphere before the start of the talks, which aim to develop the ceasefire agreement, including halting Israeli attacks on Gaza and assassinations during the negotiation period.
The Hamas negotiating delegation, led by Dr. Khalil al-Hayya, head of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, did not arrive in Cairo as expected Tuesday evening. The negotiations were still scheduled to begin Wednesday in El Alamein.
This decision was made by the Hamas leadership at the last minute, before the delegation's departure for Cairo, after meetings with Turkish intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin, which also addressed the ceasefire.
The Hamas official told that the movement requested the postponement of the negotiations for several days to "create the conditions necessary for progress." He indicated that contacts are underway between Hamas, other resistance factions, and other parties involved in the negotiations to achieve Palestinian reconciliation.
He indicated that Hamas had asked the mediators to exert real pressure on Israel to halt the escalation and assassinations during the negotiations.
Regarding the new date for the next round of talks, he said the movement requested a postponement "until conditions are more favorable," and that it is likely, if there is strong pressure and the movement's demands are met—demands that align with the terms of the ceasefire agreement, which stipulates a cessation of mutual attacks and all forms of escalation—that the talks will begin in a few days.
The Hamas official, who preferred to remain anonymous, confirmed that the movement's decision was made in light of the bloody Israeli escalation in the Gaza Strip, the occupation army's deliberate perpetration of massacres, assassinations, targeting of police officers, and bombing of displacement camps.
He said, “The policy of pressure and negotiation under fire will not work and will not achieve any results.” He also emphasized that the occupation’s attacks on Gaza “will not change the resistance’s positions, nor will they push it to abandon its stances. It will continue to adhere to the demands stipulated in the first phase of the ceasefire agreement.”
It is worth noting that Al-Quds Al-Arabi revealed earlier that the movement had postponed its participation in the current round of negotiations, which was scheduled to begin on the 18th of last month, after Israel assassinated the commander of its military wing, Izz al-Din al-Haddad, on the 15th of last month. Israel followed this up days later by assassinating his successor, Muhammad Awda, and continued to target police forces and carry out other assassinations.
The new truce negotiations were supposed to begin on Wednesday in the Egyptian city of El Alamein, with the participation of Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the Popular Resistance Committees, the Palestinian Initiative Movement, and the Mohammed Dahlan faction, at the invitation of Egypt, and in the presence of Egyptian, Qatari, and Turkish mediators. There were contacts underway to hold a meeting between the Palestinian factions and the High Representative of the Peace Council, Nikolay Mladenov.
He emphasized that Hamas, during its recent contacts with mediators, requested strong action from the US administration to pressure Israel to adhere to the terms of the first phase of the ceasefire agreement, which stipulates a cessation of attacks and escalation. He
added that Hamas submitted a comprehensive report on violations, including the number of casualties and the restrictions on the operation of crossings, which are exacerbating the humanitarian crisis. He noted that despite this, the occupying power continued its policies of military escalation and deliberately intensified its assassination operations instead of implementing the first phase of the agreement. Israel and the "Peace Council" set a condition for moving to the second phase, demanding the "disarmament of the resistance."
He affirmed that Hamas clarified to the mediators its commitment to all the terms of the first phase of the ceasefire agreement and its readiness to hand over full administration of the Gaza Strip to the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza. He accused Israel of obstructing the committee's access to the Gaza Strip and stated that what is required now is the implementation of the first phase of the ceasefire agreement, followed by moving to the second phase. He affirmed the movement's readiness to implement the remaining terms of the ceasefire agreement in its various phases.
Abu Ubaida, the spokesman for the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, called on mediators in a video statement on Tuesday to compel the Israeli occupation to implement the terms of the ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip. In his statement, he said, “The assassination crimes and the daily killing of our people, our resistance fighters, which has targeted children, the elderly, and women, and all the crimes and violations of the ceasefire agreement witnessed in the Gaza Strip, and the occupation’s reneging on its commitments, place the mediators and guarantors before a moment of truth. Where are you? What is your role? Where are your guarantees?”
He added, “When we address the mediators, excluding the United States, we are addressing our people and the sons of our nation. Do not equate the victim with the executioner. Stand with your brothers in Gaza in a position of honor that history will record. Let all efforts be united to restrain the occupation, our enemy, your enemy, the enemy of our nation, and the enemy of every free person in this world, and compel it to fulfill its obligations.”
He continued, “We are facing a despicable enemy that disregards the sanctity of agreements, misread the situation, and miscalculated.” He added, “The score will remain unsettled until our cowardly enemy, who imagines he can weaken us by assassinating our leaders, pays the price.”
It is worth noting that the recent rounds of negotiations, held after the ceasefire agreement came into effect on October 10th of last year, failed to compel Israel to fully implement the agreement's provisions. Israel continued its bloody military attacks and maintained its policy of tightening the siege on the Gaza Strip, failing to allow the entry of necessary food and medical aid to the population, which has severely impacted their lives.
During this period, Mladenov proposed a plan to transfer power from Hamas to the National Committee formed by the Peace Council. He stated that Hamas could have a political future if it committed to peace and spoke of a “safe passage” to third countries for members of the group who did not wish to participate in this plan.
He announced that his plan was based primarily on the "disarmament of Hamas," a point he deemed non-negotiable. He linked all reconstruction and relief plans for Gaza, as well as the Israeli withdrawal from the Strip, to this condition. He set an eight-month timetable for implementing the "disarmament" clause. However, the resistance factions rejected this, demanding that Israel first fulfill its obligations under the initial phase of the ceasefire before moving to the second phase.
Hamas, through its spokesperson Hazem Qassem, asserted that claims by some parties within the "Peace Council" that Hamas was unwilling to relinquish control of the Gaza Strip were "misleading lies intended to provide cover for the occupation to continue its aggression." He affirmed the movement's complete readiness to hand over all aspects of governance, including security, to the agreed-upon national committee based in Cairo.
He stressed that the main obstacle to the committee’s work is “the criminal occupation and Mladenov, who complicated matters by linking all tracks to a single issue in the agreement, contrary to the vision set by US President Trump for peace in the Gaza Strip.” He accused the “Peace Council” of being unable to pressure the occupation and compel it to allow the committee into the Strip, or to provide it with the necessary resources to operate.
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