‘Israel’ deliberately stalling Gaza ceasefire talks: Hamas

Ghazi Hamad made the remarks in an interview with Lebanon’s al-Mayadeen news network on Tuesday, saying there is no progress in the negotiations due to Israel’s disruption, adding that Tel Aviv’s position is to insist on non-alignment.

He went on to say that it is clear that the occupying regime seeks to continue the war despite international opposition, and for this reason it is not taking the negotiations seriously and halts the process to buy time.

Hamad further stated that currently the main door of the agreement is still closed, because the Israelis reject the idea of ​​reaching an agreement.

The high-ranking Hamas official also noted that Israel has not yet answered the question about its readiness for an agreement that will lead to a ceasefire, stressing that in fact Tel Aviv is playing a dirty and misleading game with mediators to say it is negotiating, but the reality is something else.

“Every time, it seems that the Israeli side has no decision and is negotiating without a clear position, and it is Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s policy to continue wasting time in negotiations,” he said.

Meanwhile, member of Hamas Political Bureau, Mohammed Nazzal, ruled out the possibility of achieving a ceasefire agreement in Gaza, blaming the Israeli regime for the lack of progress in the negotiations.   

In an interview with Al Araby Television Network, Nazzal said “Considering the Israeli regime’s insistence on its position, it is not possible to reach a ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip.”

He went on to say that the Israeli regime, despite all the flexibility shown by Hamas, continues to waste time and evade any kind of commitment, stressing that the counteroffer presented by Israel in the ongoing indirect ceasefire talks is at odds with the resistance group’s demands. 

“The occupation insists on not withdrawing from Gaza, not committing to a permanent ceasefire and on preventing the return of displaced people [to northern Gaza],” Nazzal said, adding that the Israeli regime has rejected the demands of the resistance group regarding the issue of Palestinian prisoners.

“For this reason, the conditions are not good and I don’t think that an agreement will be reached that would be possible to sign due to the insistence of the occupiers on their position,” he said.

The latest development comes as the UN Security Council has adopted a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

Multi-party negotiations on hammering out a truce agreement between Hamas and the Israeli regime have reportedly failed to yield any results. 

Israel waged the brutal war on Gaza on October 7 after Hamas carried out a historic operation against the occupying entity in retaliation for its intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people.

Since the start of the offensive, the Tel Aviv regime has killed more than 32,300 Palestinians and injured over 74,000 others.

About 130 of the 250 Israeli captives taken by Hamas during the October 7 operation are still in Gaza after a provisional truce deal in December saw the exchange of prisoners between the two sides.