Hamas says delegation left Cairo after meeting truce mediators

Gaza, Aug 26 (IANS) A Hamas official has said the group's delegation left Cairo after meeting with Egyptian and Qatari mediators trying to negotiate a ceasefire in the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.

"The Hamas delegation left Cairo tonight, after meeting with Egyptian and Qatari mediators who briefed them on the results of the latest negotiations," Izzat al-Rishq, said on Sunday in a statement.

Diplomatic efforts to reach a Gaza ceasefire and avert a wider war intensified following the killings of two senior Iran-backed militants last month that sparked threats of reprisals from Tehran and its allies, who blamed Israel.

The basis of the talks has been a framework that US President Joe Biden outlined in late May, which he described as an Israeli proposal.

"Hamas reiterates its readiness to implement" the Biden plan, Rishq said on Sunday.

While the US, which is also acting as a mediator, said on Friday that progress had been made during the latest round of Gaza talks, previous optimism during the months-long negotiations has proved unfounded.

Hamas had earlier said a delegation would go to Cairo, but only to meet with mediators rather than participate in the discussions.

On Sunday, Rishq reiterated several of Hamas's long-standing demands for any ceasefire agreement, in particular the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.

Key sticking points in ongoing talks mediated by the US, Egypt and Qatar include an Israeli presence in the so-called Philadelphi Corridor, a narrow 14.5-km-long (9-mile-long) stretch of land along Gaza's southern border with Egypt.

Mediators put forward several alternatives to the presence of Israeli forces on the Philadelphi Corridor and the Netzarim Corridor which cuts across the middle of the Gaza Strip, but none were accepted by the parties, Egyptian sources said.

Israel also expressed reservations about several of the Palestinian detainees Hamas is demanding the release of, and Israel demanded their exit from Gaza if they are released, the sources added.

There has been much back and forth between the teams from Israel, the US and Egypt since last Thursday to narrow the remaining gaps, the senior US official said, in preparation for Saturday, when Qatar and Egypt met with senior representatives of Hamas to walk through the proposal in detail.

On Sunday, senior officials from Israel joined the talks to address outstanding issues with the support of mediators, the senior US official said but did not provide a definitive assessment on whether there was a breakthrough or not.

Hamas said Israel has backtracked on a commitment to withdraw troops from the Corridor and put forward other new conditions, including the screening of displaced Palestinians as they return to the enclave's more heavily populated north when the ceasefire begins.

"We will not accept discussions about retractions from what we agreed to on July 2 or new conditions," Hamas official Osama Hamdan told the group's Al-Aqsa TV on Sunday.

A Hamas delegation left Cairo on Sunday after holding talks with mediators, senior official Izzat El-Reshiq said, adding that the group had reiterated its demand that any agreement must stipulate a permanent ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

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