Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) movement released a joint statement on Thursday, confirming they will reject any agreement that does not include an Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. The joint statement was issued following a meeting between PIJ Secretary-General Ziad Nakhala and Hamas Shura Council head Mohammad Darwish in Qatar’s capital, Doha.
The statement stressed the "necessity of stopping the aggression and war to which the Palestinian people are being subjected and punishing the leaders of the occupation for the crimes they are committing against humanity."
"The position of the resistance and the Palestinian people on achieving any agreement is a comprehensive cessation of aggression, a complete withdrawal from the Strip, the start of reconstruction, and the end of the siege with a serious exchange deal," the joint statement added.
It also held "the occupation leaders responsible for aborting the efforts undertaken by the mediators through their insistence on continuing the aggression and denying what was done in previous stages, especially the proposal approved by the movement [Hamas] on 2 July."
Additionally, the Hamas and PIJ statement renewed the call for the immediate delivery of sufficient amounts of humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza, warning of the "consequences of the continued collective punishment" by Israel.
The statement comes as a new round of ceasefire talks – unattended by Hamas – are expected to kick off in the coming days. The meetings were initially scheduled for Wednesday in the Egyptian capital but were delayed to an unspecified date.
"The high-level Cairo meeting regarding the negotiations will be held on Saturday or Sunday. The negotiating team is working around the clock to bridge the gap, including the Philadelphia file with Egypt," an Israeli official told Yedioth Ahronoth on Thursday.
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Hamas has rejected a new US-backed proposal – which Washington says Israel has agreed to – for failing to address the group’s demands for a permanent ceasefire, withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, and several other issues.
It is unclear precisely what is in the new proposal. A Hamas official told Al-Sharq on August 20 that the proposal does not include an Israeli withdrawal from the Philadelphi Corridor on the Gaza-Egypt border, as Hamas’ terms stipulate. Netanyahu himself confirmed on the same date that Israel would refuse any withdrawal from the Gaza–Egypt border.
The source also said the proposal demands a screening mechanism to inspect displaced Gazans who would return to the northern strip as part of an agreement – one of the many Israeli conditions complicating recent negotiations.
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It also does not guarantee a permanent ceasefire. The US proposal states that "a permanent ceasefire will be discussed in the second phase within a specific limit, and if Hamas does not agree to the Israeli demands, the army will return to the war and carry out its military operations," according to the source.