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- The US has said it expects indirect talks to go ahead as planned in Qatar鈥檚 capital Doha on Thursday
- Hamas has voiced skepticism about the talks, accusing Israel of stalling
CAIRO: Hamas said on Wednesday it would not take part in a new round of Gaza ceasefire talks slated for Thursday in Qatar, but an official briefed on the talks said mediators expected to consult with the Palestinian group afterwards.
The US has said it expects indirect talks to go ahead as planned in Qatar鈥檚 capital Doha on Thursday, and that a ceasefire agreement was still possible, while warning that progress was needed urgently to avert a wider war.
Axios reported that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has postponed a trip to the Middle East that had been expected to begin on Tuesday. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters that CIA Director Bill Burns and US Middle East envoy Brett McGurk will represent Washington at the talks on Thursday in Qatar.
Three senior Iranian officials have said that only a ceasefire deal in Gaza would hold Iran back from direct retaliation against Israel for the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on its soil last month.
鈥淚srael will send the negotiations team on the agreed upon date, that鈥檚 tomorrow Aug. 15th, in order to finalize the details of the implementation of the framework agreement,鈥� government spokesperson David Mencer said in a briefing.
The delegation includes Israel鈥檚 spy chief David Barnea, head of the domestic security service Ronen Bar and the military鈥檚 hostages chief Nitzan Alon, a defense official said.
Hamas has voiced skepticism about the talks, accusing Israel of stalling. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar has been the main obstacle to a deal.
鈥淕oing to new negotiations allows the occupation to impose new conditions and employ the maze of negotiation to conduct more massacres,鈥� Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters.
Hamas鈥� absence from the talks does not eliminate chances of progress since its chief negotiator Khalil Al-Hayya is based in Doha and the group has open channels with Egypt and Qatar.
鈥淗amas is committed to the proposal presented to it on July 2, which is based on the UN Security Council resolution and the Biden speech and the movement is prepared to immediately begin discussion over a mechanism to implement it,鈥� said Abu Zuhri.
A source familiar with the matter said Hamas wants the mediators to come back with a 鈥渟erious response鈥� from Israel. If that happens, the group says, it will meet with mediators after the Thursday session. An official briefed on the talks process said mediators expected to consult with Hamas.
In a statement Hamas issued late on Wednesday jointly with some smaller factions, it reaffirmed the outstanding demands the factions wanted a ceasefire agreement to achieve.
The group said negotiations 鈥渟hould examine mechanisms to implement what was agreed upon in the framework deal submitted by mediators that would achieve a comprehensive ceasefire, a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces, breaking the siege, opening crossings and reconstruction of Gaza as well as reaching a serious hostages/prisoners deal.鈥�
The statement rejected any US or Israeli intervention in shaping the day after the war in Gaza.