‘No excuses’: US, Egypt and Qatar call on Israel, Hamas to resume Gaza talks

Washington: Leaders of the United States, Egypt and Qatar have jointly demanded that Israel and Hamas return to stalled talks over the war in Gaza next week, saying that “only the details” of carrying out a ceasefire and hostage release remain to be negotiated.

“There is no further time to waste, nor excuses from any party for further delay,” they said in a joint statement on Thursday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a funeral at Mount Herzl Military Cemetery in Jerusalem last Sunday.Credit: AP

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Thursday that it had accepted the invitation.

US President Joe Biden, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani – mediators in indirect negotiations to end 10 months of devastating war in Gaza – set the talks for August 15, to take place in either Cairo or Doha, Qatar.

A senior US official, speaking to reporters on condition of anonymity to discuss the push by mediators, said only four or five areas of disagreement over implementation remained to be resolved between the two opponents.

The official cited the timing of a planned swap of Palestinian detainees held by Israel and hostages held by Hamas as an example.

Egypt, the US and Qatar said they had a proposal ready to present at next week’s talks to resolve the remaining issues.

Critics of Netanyahu accuse him of obstructing talks to end the war in Gaza, which began on October 7 when Hamas-led militants killed about 1200 people in Israel. Israel’s offensive in Gaza since then has killed about 40,000 people, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

There was no immediate response to the offer by Hamas. Last week’s killing of its top political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran raised tensions across the region, an escalation widely seen as a blow to ceasefire talks. The killing was widely ascribed to Israel, although Israel has not commented.

US officials have said they believe Hamas can resume negotiations despite the assassination on July 31 of Haniyeh, who had been presiding over the talks for Hamas.

Hamas military chief Yahya Sinwar, who is believed to be sheltering from Israeli attack in underground bunkers beneath Gaza, took over as the group’s political leader. Hamas had other representatives besides Haniyeh attending the talks who can step in for him, US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said.

Israeli forces stepped up air strikes across the Gaza Strip on Thursday, killing at least 40 people, Palestinian medics said, in further battles with Hamas-led militants as Israel braced for a potential wider war in the region.

The airstrikes hit a cluster of houses in central Gaza’s Bureij camp, killing at least 15 people, and the nearby Nuseirat camp, killed four, medics said.

Israeli aircraft also bombed a house in the heart of Gaza City in the north, killing five Palestinians, while another air strike in the southern city of Khan Younis killed one person and wounded others, according to medics.

Later on Thursday, 15 Palestinians were killed and 30 injured in Israeli bombings of two schools east of Gaza City, the territory’s Civil Emergency Service said in a statement.

Reuters

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