Hamas says to reconsider negotiating strategy

Release time：2024-05-19 22:30:32 Source：World Wisdom news portal

An Israeli self-propelled howitzer fires a shell to the Gaza Strip near the Kerem Shalom crossing in southern Israel, on May 8, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua]

Hamas said in a statement Friday that it will hold consultations with the leaders of other Palestinian factions to reconsider its negotiating strategy on reaching a ceasefire to the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict.

The statement added that Israel's "effective rejection" of the ceasefire offer has undone all efforts to reach a ceasefire.

It also accused the Israeli side of "evading" a ceasefire deal, citing the fact that Israel continued military actions in the Palestinian city of Rafah and took control of the Palestinian side of Rafah's border crossing, even after Hamas accepted the mediators' proposal.

The Hamas movement, which has controlled the Gaza Strip since 2007, said while it was "positively" dealing with the proposal made by Qatari, Egyptian and U.S. mediators, the "Israeli leaders insisted on failing all those efforts."

On Thursday, the Hamas delegation left Egypt's capital and headed to Qatar's Doha after a round of three-day negotiations failed to produce any positive results with Israel.

"Our delegation adheres to its position of approving the proposal it received from the Egyptian and Qatari mediators," Ezzat al-Rishq, a senior Hamas official, said in a press statement announcing the delegation's departure.

Israel said the Hamas proposal contained elements it cannot accept.

Meanwhile during the talks, the Israeli military launched an operation in Gaza's southernmost city of Rafah crowded with more than 1 million internally displaced Palestinians and took control of the Palestinian side of the key Rafah crossing.

Related articles