The Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) has withdrawn from a new round of ceasefire talks in the Gaza Strip, scheduled to take place on Thursday in Qatar, citing the need for a concrete action plan instead of further negotiations.
“Hamas is sticking to the mediators’ paper presented to it on 2 July, which is based on the UN Security Council resolution and President Biden’s speech. The movement is ready to immediately start exploring the mechanisms for its implementation,” said Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas spokesperson, in a statement to Reuters.
He continued: “Going to new negotiations allows the occupation to impose new conditions and exploit the maze of negotiations to commit more massacres.”
The United States has stated it expects the indirect talks to proceed as planned in Doha despite Hamas’ withdrawal, and that a ceasefire agreement remains possible. However, Axios reported that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has postponed a Middle East visit originally scheduled to begin on Tuesday.
Three senior Iranian officials have reportedly claimed that only a ceasefire agreement in Gaza would prevent Iran from directly retaliating against Israel for the assassination of Hamas’ political bureau chief, Ismail Haniyeh, on Iranian soil last month.
The Israeli government has said it will send a delegation to the talks scheduled for Thursday, despite Hamas’ decision to withdraw.
Amidst these concerns, US President Joe Biden has stated that reaching a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas in Gaza could help prevent Iran from launching an attack on Israel.
The US ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, has stated that the United States aims to “de-escalate” the situation in the Middle East, amid fears of a retaliatory Iranian attack on Israel.
Speaking before the UN Security Council in New York, Thomas-Greenfield expressed the US intention to “deter and confront any future attack and avoid regional conflict.” She called for a ceasefire agreement, stating that “a wider regional conflict is not inevitable.”
However, the Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations, Riyad Mansour, accused the Security Council of not doing enough to halt the Israeli military operation in Gaza.
The Gaza Ministry of Health announced on Wednesday that the Israeli assault on the Strip has resulted in the deaths of at least 39,965 Palestinians and injuries to another 92,294 since 7 October 2023. The Ministry also stated in a press release that 36 Palestinians were killed and 54 injured in the past 24 hours.
