Hamas says ready to negotiate to achieve goals
Dr Khalil al-Hayya, a senior Hamas official, has issued a brief statement on Telegram.
“We affirm our readiness to continue working and negotiating responsibly to achieve our goals.”
The latest statement came hours after al-Hayya had accused Israel of reneging on the truce deal it signed with Hamas in January.
“Over the past period, we received a number of proposals and initiatives, and we dealt with them positively and responsibly to achieve our goals of a complete cessation of aggression against our people in Gaza, ensuring a full withdrawal from the Strip, exchanging prisoners, rebuilding, and ending the blockade. However, the Zionist occupation reneged on the agreement it signed with us and the mediators, refusing to move to the second phase, and once again resuming its aggression against our people,” he had said earlier.
What’s the status of Gaza ceasefire talks?
- The AP and Reuters news agencies say Egypt has put forward a new proposal to get the Israel-Hamas truce back on track.
- The plan calls for Hamas to release five Israeli captives each week, in return for Israel pausing attacks on Gaza, allowing humanitarian aid into the Strip and releasing Palestinian prisoners.
- Reuters says the plan also calls for Israel to implement the second phase of the ceasefire – which entails an end to the war and a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza – after the first week.
- The agency, citing security sources, says the US and Hamas have agreed to the proposal but Israel has not yet responded.
- Israeli media says Netanyahu’s office has denied receiving any new proposals from Egypt.
- The Times of Israel also reports that Netanyahu is still trying to get Hamas to agree to a US proposal that calls for captive-prisoner exchanges and the entry of humanitarian aid, but without guarantees to end the war.
Ex-Israeli captive calls on Red Cross to visit remaining captives in Gaza: Report
Ohad Ben Ami, who was released from Gaza in an exchange deal last month, has urged the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to visit captives still held in the enclave to assess their condition.
The ICRC is one of the few international humanitarian organisations with a presence in Gaza and has helped facilitate the transfer of captives from Hamas to Israel. Israeli officials have criticised the organisation – which maintains neutrality – for not arranging visits to captives in Gaza during the war. However, the ICRC says it has made persistent efforts to advocate for them and even reach them directly but cannot do so without the cooperation of those holding them.
“This is hugely disappointing to us,” wrote the head of the ICRC’s delegation in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory, Julien Lerisson, in a March 9 op-ed. “But the lack of success is in no way due to lack of desire, lack of care.”
Speaking to Germany’s parliament, Ben Ami lamented that no one from the organisation saw him “during the 491 days of my captivity”.
“This is an international organisation, and someone from it should see the 59 hostages still held in Gaza and report their condition to the world,” he said in comments carried by Israel’s Arutz Sheva media. “Are they alive? Are they dead? Do they need medicine? Are they being cared for?”
The ICRC has also faced criticism for not doing enough to support Palestinian detainees held by Israel or those wounded in Gaza. Israel has blocked the ICRC from visiting Palestinian detainees, a practice the group says it is working to resume, and Israeli forces have repeatedly fired on medics with its local partner organisation, the Palestine Red Crescent Society, as they respond to deadly attacks.
