Hamas casts doubt on joining new Gaza cease-fire talks

The Palestinian militant group Hamas on Sunday urged Gaza mediators to present a cease-fire plan based upon earlier negotiations rather than starting fresh talks. It said mediators should then "compel" Israel to comply without further talks.  

Both Israel and Hamas are being pressured by the United States, Egypt and Qatar to meet for new talks to finalize a Gaza truce and hostage-release deal. The summit is slated for Thursday in either Cairo or Doha.

Israel said it would take part, while Hamas initially said it was studying the offer.

The request comes a day after an Israeli airstrike killed scores of people at a school that was sheltering displaced Palestinians in Gaza City.

What did Hamas say on Sunday?

In a statement, Hamas put a condition on its participation in the talks, saying it wanted the plan laid out by US President Joe Biden in May to be implemented. The proposals were later endorsed by the United Nations Security Council.

Hamas "demands that the mediators present a plan to implement what they proposed to the movement... based on Biden's vision and the UN Security Council resolution, and compel the [Israeli] occupation to comply," it said.

"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," the statement said.

What is the Biden-backed truce plan?

Biden had labeled the plan a three-phase "roadmap to an enduring cease-fire and the release of all hostages," and said it was an Israeli proposal.

The first phase includes a "full and complete cease-fire" lasting six weeks, Biden said, with Israeli forces withdrawing from "all populated areas of Gaza" and some hostages freed in exchange for Palestinians held in Israeli jails.

The second phase would see the remaining hostages freed as both sides negotiate "a permanent end to hostilities," the US president said.

The third phase would involve "a major reconstruction plan for Gaza" and the return of the remains of dead hostages.

Mediation efforts since the plan was first presented have failed to produce an agreement.

Israel widens Khan Younis evacuation

As the war rages on, Israel expanded evacuation orders to a wider area of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip overnight into Sunday.

The orders covered districts in the center, east and west, making it one of the largest made in the 10-month-old conflict.

The move forced tens of thousands of residents and displaced families to leave their homes and shelters in the dark.

The armed wing of the Islamic Jihad group said its fighters fired mortar bombs against Israeli forces massing in the eastern areas of Khan Younis.

Later Sunday, an Israeli airstrike near the central Khan Younis market killed four Palestinians and wounded several others, medics said.

Israel launched its assault on Gaza after Hamas attacked southern Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking hostage more than 250 others, according to Israeli tallies. 

More than 110 hostages are still held captive in Gaza, including 39 the Israeli military says are dead.

Almost 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli offensive in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

Hamas is labeled as a terrorist organization by Israel, the United States and the European Union, among others.

mm/jsi (AFP, Reuters)