Amid reports of renewing Gaza truce talks, a senior Hamas representative, Osama Hamdan, said that there is no need for new negotiations with Israel.
Amid Truce Talks Reports, Hamas Official Says 'No Need For New Negotiations' With Israel
The immediate requirement, Hamdan told Al Jazeera, is for Israel to withdraw from the Gaza strip and a stoppage to all the aggression.
The immediate requirement, Hamdan told Al Jazeera, is for Israel to withdraw from the Gaza strip and a stoppage to all the aggression.
"We do not need new negotiations," he said while noting that Hamas has agreed to a ceasefire proposition that has been rejected by Israel.
"There is no guarantee that it (Israel) will accept new proposals to go to negotiations... If there are no serious guarantees, this means giving Israel more time to continue the aggression," Hamdan was quoted as saying by Al Jazeera.
Earlier this month, the Palestinian militant group in Gaza -- Hamas -- agreed to a ceasefire proposal, while Israel pressed ahead with its military operation.
After a meeting with mediators in Paris, officials involved in negotiations reportedly said that the Israeli government intended on renewing talks for a captive release deal in the coming days, Al Jazeera report said citing Israeli media.
Israel's intelligence chief David Barnea had agreed to a fresh framework over the stalled negotiations with mediators, CIA Director Bill Burns and Qatar's Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, the report added.
Now in its eighth month, the war has already seen at least 34,989 Palestinians killed and 78,204 wounded in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7. The death toll in Israel from Hamas’s October 7 attacks stands at 1,139, with dozens of people still held captive.
Notably, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Friday ordered Israel to immediately halt its military offensive in Rafah, in the Gaza Strip. The ICJ's ruling was made in response to an emergency request by South Africa, which argued that Israel's actions in Rafah were causing a humanitarian crisis and threatening the lives of thousands of Palestinians.
“Israel must immediately halt its military offensive and any other action in Rafah which may inflict on the Palestinian group in Gaza conditions of life that could bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part,” Judge Nawaf Salam, president of the ICJ said.
The court described the humanitarian situation in Rafah as "disastrous" and warned that it would only worsen if Israel continued its military operations.
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