Hamas demands adoption of Biden-backed Gaza cease-fire proposal instead of new talks

GAZA CITY, Palestine

The Palestinian resistance group Hamas demanded Sunday that Gaza cease-fire mediators present a plan to implement a proposal supported by US President Joe Biden that it had agreed upon on July 2.

The group released a statement requesting the mediators "present a plan to implement what they offered to the movement and which was agreed upon on July 2, based on Biden-backed proposal and the UN Security Council resolution, and to compel the (Israeli) occupation to adhere to it, rather than proceeding with more rounds of negotiations or new proposals that provide cover for the occupation's aggression and give it more time."

Israel "escalated its aggression against our people and committed further massacres, including the assassination of the movement's leader Ismail Haniyeh, confirming its intentions to continue the aggression and not reach a cease-fire agreement," added Hamas.

Egyptian, Qatari, and US mediators urged Israel and Hamas on Thursday to conclude a cease-fire and hostage release deal with no further delays or excuses.

"There is no further time to waste nor excuses from any party for further delay," said a joint trilateral statement by published by Qatar's Amiri Diwan, the emir's office.

The mediators expressed readiness "to present a final bridging proposal that resolves the remaining implementation issues in a manner that meets the expectations of all parties."

They also called on Israel and Hamas "to resume urgent discussions on Aug. 15 in Doha or Cairo to close all remaining gaps and commence implementation of the deal without further delay."

In its statement, Hamas also mentioned a deadly airstrike by Israel early on Saturday that killed at least 100 Palestinians and injured dozens at a school in Gaza City, were displaced people had taken refuge.

"The enemy committed a heinous crime, carrying out a massacre against displaced people in a school in the Daraj neighborhood of Gaza," it said.

On previous cease-fire efforts, the movement said it had engaged in "numerous rounds of negotiations and provided all necessary flexibility and positivity to achieve the goals and interests of the Palestinians, including facilitating a hostage swap, aiding our people, returning displaced people, and rebuilding what was destroyed by the aggression."

Last May, Biden said Israel presented a three-phase deal that would end hostilities in Gaza and secure the release of hostages held in the coastal enclave. The plan includes a cease-fire, a hostage-prisoner exchange, and the reconstruction of Gaza.

Indirect talks mediated by the US, Qatar, and Egypt have failed to agree on a permanent cease-fire and a hostage-prisoner swap. A week-long truce in November saw the exchange of some of the around 250 hostages who were held during the Hamas incursion last October, in return for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7, 2023 attack by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas.

The Israeli onslaught has since killed roughly 39,800 victims, mostly women and children, and injured over 92,000 others, according to local health authorities.

More than 10 months into the Israeli onslaught, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala