Talks end with no Gaza truce deal but may restart weekend
The latest round of talks over a truce in Gaza have ended without a breakthrough, with the Hamas delegation leaving Egypt for consultations with the group’s leaders in Qatar.
Sources told The National the negotiations were expected to resume in Egypt as early as this weekend, as mediators try to reach an agreement before Ramadan begins.
Talks have also taken on added urgency because of the humanitarian crisis in the enclave, as Palestinians face starvation and disease.
Senior Hamas officials said the delegation left after Israel rejected the group’s conditions for a six-week truce.
A detainee and hostage swap, as well as a surge in humanitarian aid to Gaza, are expected to be part of any deal.
Hamas had said it would only accept a temporary ceasefire if it received guarantees that a permanent one would immediately follow.
It would also not release active service Israeli soldiers until a permanent ceasefire was in place, freeing only the elderly, ailing, women and child hostages during the truce.
Hamas, whose October 7 attack on Israel started the war in Gaza, wants Israel to send its forces outside urban centres as the first step of a full withdrawal..
The Hamas delegation’s departure took place in two phases, the sources said.
Khalil Al Hayah, the deputy and confidant of the Hamas leader in Gaza Yahya Sinwar, left Egypt on Tuesday. Others left on Thursday.
The sources said their departure did not mean the collapse of the negotiations but indicated the complexity and delicacy of the process.
The administration of the US President Joe Biden has repeatedly said it wants a truce in place before Ramadan, which starts on either Sunday or Monday, depending on the sighting of the crescent moon.
Mr Biden urged Hamas to agree to a truce.
“It’s in the hands of Hamas right now,” he said this week.
“There’s got to be a ceasefire because if we get into circumstances where this continues to Ramadan, Israel and Jerusalem could be very, very dangerous.”
The US President’s Ramadan deadline, however, is by now deep in uncertain territory.
“We have serious problems that need to be overcome,” said one of the sources.
“Neither Israel nor Hamas are budging despite considerable US pressure on both.”
They said Washington’s pressure on Hamas was applied indirectly through Qatar and Egypt.
Hamas is designated as a terrorist group by the US, the EU and Israel.
Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7 left about 1,200 Israelis dead. Some of the attackers returned to Gaza with about 240 hostages, of whom about 100 were released during a week-long truce in late November.
About 31,000 Palestinians have been killed after Israel launched its ground offensive in the enclave.
The bombardment has also destroyed vast areas of the Palestinian enclave.
Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said Israel had been “thwarting” efforts to conclude a ceasefire deal mediated by Qatar and Egypt.
Still, the US remains convinced that a truce agreement is still possible.
“We continue to believe that obstacles are not insurmountable and a deal can be reached. So, we’re going to continue to push for one,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said this week.
US President Joe Biden’s deadline for an agreement before Ramadan is deep in uncertain territory