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Hamas, Palestinian factions reject any foreign guardianship
In a joint statement with Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), Hamas has reiterated that any decision on the future governance of Gaza is “an internal Palestinian matter”.
The Palestinian political factions commended the steadfastness of people in Gaza and thanked the mediators involved in reaching a ceasefire deal.
“We are working, in cooperation with generous Egyptian efforts, to convene an urgent comprehensive national meeting for the next step after the ceasefire,” they said. “This will unify the Palestinian position, formulate a comprehensive national strategy, and rebuild our national institutions on the foundations of partnership, credibility, and transparency.”
US President Donald Trump’s 20-point Gaza plan includes the creation of a new international body dubbed the “Board of Peace” that is tasked with overseeing a temporary transitional government of technocrats to govern Gaza.
Trump himself will chair the board, which is also expected to include former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, according to the proposal.
Hamas presses mediators after Israel refuses to free key Palestinian prisoners
The Palestinian group is in contact with mediators about several leaders whom Israel has refused to free under the US-brokered truce deal, including Marwan Barghouti and Ahmad Saadat.
“The movement [Hamas] is insisting on their release and negotiations are still ongoing,” senior official Mousa Abu Marzouk told Al Jazeera TV network.
He said Israel turned down several other proposed names. When asked if those included Abdullah Barghouti, Hassan Salama, Ibrahim Hamed and Abbas al-Sayyed, he replied, “Yes. These are the most prominent names that the occupation always rejects.”
Marwan Barghouti, 66, is widely popular and considered a potentially unifying Palestinian political figure. He’s serving five life sentences in an Israeli jail.
Israel holding bodies of 735 Palestinians, says advocacy group
The National Campaign for the Retrieval of Palestinian and Arab War Victims’ Corpses and the Disclosure of the Fate of the Missing said Israeli authorities are holding the bodies of 735 people in cemeteries and refrigerators.
The cemeteries are made up of mass graves marked with numbers rather than names, and some of the bodies have been there since the 1967 war.
It is widely known that Israel employs the practice as a tactic for leverage in negotiations. The practice has long pained Palestinian families, who sometimes have to wait decades before receiving the bodies of their loved ones.
