Hamas casts doubt on participation in new Gaza ceasefire talks

Palestinian militant group Hamas on Sunday asked mediators to present a plan based upon previous talks instead of engaging in new negotiations for a Gaza ceasefire deal, casting doubt on its participation in a Thursday meeting called by the mediators.

Last week, leaders of the United States, Egypt and Qatar urged Israel and Hamas to meet for negotiations on Aug. 15 in either Cairo or Doha to finalize a Gaza ceasefire and hostage-release deal.

Israel said it would send negotiators to take part in the meeting. Hamas initially said it was studying the offer but has now hinted it may stay out of the new round of talks.

"The movement calls on the mediators to present a plan to implement what was agreed upon by the movement on July 2, 2024, based on (President Joe) Biden's vision and the UN Security Council resolution," Hamas said in a statement.

"The mediators should enforce this on the occupation (Israel) instead of pursuing further rounds of negotiations or new proposals that would provide cover for the occupation's aggression and grant it more time to continue its genocide against our people," the statement said.

Hamas said it has shown flexibility throughout the negotiating process but that Israeli actions, including what Hamas has said was its assassination of the group's leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran late last month, indicate that it is not serious about pursuing a ceasefire agreement. Israel has not denied or claimed responsibility.

President Joe Biden laid out a three-phase ceasefire proposal in an address on May 31. Washington and regional mediators have since tried arranging the Gaza ceasefire-for-hostages deal but have run into repeated obstacles.

There has separately been an increased risk of a broader Middle East war after the recent killings of both Hamas leader Haniyeh in Iran and Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukrin Beirut drew threats of retaliation against Israel.

Israel launched its assault on Gaza after Hamas fighters stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and capturing more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

Since then, nearly 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli offensive in Gaza, according to the health ministry.

** Palestinian gunmen kill Israeli in West Bank attack, Israeli military says

An Israeli was killed and another wounded on Sunday by Palestinian gunmen who opened fire on a main road in the occupied West Bank, Israel's ambulance service and military said, with the armed wing of militant faction Hamas claiming responsibility.

The Israeli military said it was pursuing the suspected assailants, blocking routes and conducting searches.

Later in the day, Hamas' al-Qassam Brigades said its West Bank-based fighters killed an Israeli soldier at point-blank range near the settlement of Mehola in the Jordan Valley and "returned to their bases safely."

It said the operation came in retaliation for Israel's strike on a school where displaced Palestinians were sheltering in Gaza City on Saturday, which the civil defence service said had killed at least 90 people.

The Israeli military said it had struck a Hamas and Islamic Jihad militant command post in this attack and killed 19 militants. The Hamas and Islamic groups rejected the Israeli military statement.

Violence in the West Bank, already on the rise before the war in Gaza, has escalated further, with stepped-up Israeli military raids, settler violence and Palestinian street attacks.

Reuters