Hamas rejects new Israeli conditions in Gaza ceasefire talks

CAIRO, Aug 25 (Reuters) – The Palestinian Islamist group Hamas said on Sunday it rejected new Israeli conditions for ceasefire talks in Gaza, casting doubt on the chances of a breakthrough in the latest U.S.-backed effort to end a 10-month war.

Months of on-again, off-again talks have failed to produce an agreement to end Israel’s devastating military campaign in Gaza or release the remaining hostages held by Hamas in the militant group’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel that sparked the war.

Key points of contention in the ongoing talks mediated by the United States, Egypt and Qatar include the Israeli presence in the so-called Philadelphi Corridor, a narrow strip of land 14.5 kilometres (nine miles) long along the Gaza Strip’s southern border with Egypt.

Hamas said Israel had backtracked on its commitment to withdraw its forces from the corridor and set other new conditions, including screening displaced Palestinians as they return to the more densely populated north of the Strip when the ceasefire begins.

“We will not accept discussions about backtracking on what we agreed on July 2 or new conditions,” Hamas official Osama Hamdan told the movement’s Al-Aqsa TV on Sunday.

A senior Hamas source told Reuters that Hamas agreed in July to a US proposal to begin talks on the release of Israeli hostages, including soldiers and men, 16 days into the first phase of a deal aimed at ending the Gaza war.

Hamdan added that Hamas had delivered its response to the latest proposal to the mediators, saying that American talk of an imminent agreement was false.

Hamas leader Izzat al-Rishq said the movement’s delegation left Cairo on Sunday after holding talks with mediators, adding that the movement renewed its demand that any agreement include a permanent ceasefire and a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

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