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The negotiations in Qatar deviated from the proposal presented by U.S. President Joe Biden, a Hamas representative said Friday, as the group supported the U.N. request for a humanitarian pause to vaccinate Palestinian children for polio.
The Hamas leadership has received updates on the two-day negotiations in Doha, senior official Mahmoud Mardawi told the German Press Agency (DPA), arguing that the proposals differ from those made by Biden earlier this summer.
The Palestinian resistance group, which did not attend the talks directly, previously said it would not accept any deviations from Biden’s peace plan.
Hamas believes the negotiations should focus on ending the war, the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the coastal territory, the return of displaced people to their homes, reconstruction and the end of the Israeli blockade.
There has been no official statement from Israel on the latest round of talks.
A further round of negotiations is planned in Cairo next week, according to mediators Egypt, Qatar and the United States.
Israel’s “new” conditions include keeping troops inside Gaza along its border with Egypt, an informed source said, while Hamas demands “a complete cease-fire, a complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, a normal return of the displaced and a (prisoner) exchange deal” without restrictions.
Israel also demanded veto rights on the prisoners to be exchanged, and the ability to deport some prisoners rather than send them back to Gaza, the source said.
Separately, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant spoke to his U.S. counterpart Lloyd Austin Friday, stressing the importance of negotiating the release of the hostages held in Gaza since Oct. 7.
Gallant “highlighted that the achievement of this agreement is both a moral imperative and a strategic, security priority,” his office said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Hamas also said it supported the United Nations’ request for a seven-day humanitarian pause to vaccinate Palestinian children against polio, a member of the group’s political bureau, Izzat al-Rishq, said in a statement on Friday.
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