The Hamas movement announced that the Israeli occupation rejected the latest proposal presented by the mediators for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and a prisoner exchange deal, explaining that the next step “will be studied by the Palestinian side on the basis of adhering to the last proposal.”
The Islamic Resistance Movement – Hamas announced, early in the morning on Friday, that its delegation participating in the ceasefire negotiations in Gaza had left the Egyptian capital, Cairo, heading to Qatar.
In a message to the Palestinian factions regarding developments in the negotiations in Cairo, broadcasted by Al-Aqsa TV, the movement said that “the occupation practically rejected the proposal presented by the mediators,” noting that it “raised objections to it on several fundamental issues.”
In this context, Hamas affirmed its adherence to the national position on the basis of which the factions agreed to the mediators’ recent proposal, which makes “the ball now entirely in the occupation’s court.”
The movement also clarified that the next step “will be studied by the Palestinian side on the basis of adhering to the last proposal and taking into account the occupation’s aggression on Rafah.”
The leadership of the Hamas movement had sent its negotiating delegation from Doha to Cairo, headed by Khalil al-Hayya, after announcing that it approved the proposal presented by the mediators in Egypt and Qatar regarding a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and a prisoner exchange deal, but the war cabinet decided to go on with its planned invasion of Rafah to “put pressure on Hamas,” according to Israeli media.
Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan confirmed last Tuesday that the fact that the movement’s leadership directed its negotiating delegation to head from Doha to Cairo, headed by al-Hayya, “confirms the seriousness of its position regarding positive cooperation with the mediators.”
Hamdan stressed that the ball is now “in the court of Netanyahu and the extremist pillars of his government,” adding that the occupation’s behavior after announcing the movement’s approval and carrying out a military operation in Rafah reflects an insistence on obstructing the efforts of all mediators, including Washington.
