Hamas has rejected new Israeli conditions put forward in Gaza ceasefire talks in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, casting further doubt on the chances of a breakthrough in the latest United States-backed effort to end the 10-month-old war.
A Hamas delegation left Cairo on August 25 after meeting with mediators and receiving an update on the latest round of negotiations.
Key sticking points in the talks mediated by the United States, Egypt, and Qatar include an Israeli presence in the Philadelphi Corridor, a narrow 14.5-km-long (9-mile-long) stretch of land along Gaza’s southern border with Egypt.
In Cairo, Hamas’s delegation demanded that Israel be bound by what was agreed upon on July 2, in accordance with a plan laid out by U.S. President Joe Biden and a UN Security Council resolution.
While the group confirmed its readiness to implement that deal to achieve the interests of the Palestinian people and stop the destruction of the Gaza Strip, it stressed the need for any agreement to include a permanent ceasefire and a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
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