Hamas won’t attend ‘pointless’ peace talks, demands implementation

Alameen Templeton

Hamas has announced it won’t be attending Thursday’s Gaza talks in Doha because a deal already exists on the table and all that is needed is to implement it.
It told the White House Monday it was time for US president Joe Biden to “walk the talk” and insist Israel abide by undertakings it has made and that Biden stand by his infamous “red lines” Israel has been dancing across repeatedly since October 7.
As speculation about its attendance increased, Hamas confirmed Thursday morning it would stay away from more pointless negotiations only to see Israel walk away again.
The Washington Post reports Israel and the US, with mediating partners Egypt and Qatar, will instead sit down for “high-stakes discussions over a cease-fire and hostage release deal”.
Hamas will reengage if it receives a “clear commitment” from Israel on its latest proposal, a member of the group’s political bureau told the Post.
He said Hamas had informed mediators that it was willing to meet with them after the Thursday session if there were developments or a serious response from Israel, the Post reports.
The US state department said Qatari diplomats “have assured us that they will work to have Hamas represented.”

Those assurances came to nothing Thursday morning, with Hamas sticking to its guns. Al Mayadeen reports “an official familiar with the discussions mentioned that mediators still plan to consult with the Palestinian Resistance movement afterwards”.

Hamas politburo member Osama Hamdan said on Wednesday that the Resistance group “informed the mediators that … any meeting should be based on talking about implementation mechanisms and setting deadlines rather than negotiating something new… otherwise, Hamas finds no reason to participate.”

In a similar context, Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhriv told Reuters: “Going to new negotiations allows the occupation to impose new conditions and employ the maze of negotiation to conduct more massacres.”

“Hamas is committed to the proposal presented to it on July 2, which is based on the U.N. Security Council resolution and the Biden speech and the movement is prepared to immediately begin discussion over a mechanism to implement it,” Abu Zuhri told Al Mayadeen.

The Washington Post said: “In the most recent negotiating session in Rome last month, Israel insisted on additions to a framework announced by President Joe Biden on May 31, including its military retaining indefinite control of the boundary between Gaza and Egypt, according to officials familiar with the process, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters with the Washington Post. Hamas had appeared to meet the conditions of the proposal announced by Biden, U.S. officials said. But a key member of its negotiating team was Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, who was assassinated last month.
“That proposal called for a six-week cease-fire and partial hostage release in its first phase, to be accompanied by the withdrawal of Israeli troops from populated areas and the free return to northern Gaza of civilians who had fled south to escape Israeli bombardment. Israel and Hamas each blame each other for the delay in reaching an agreement.”
The United States is expected to be represented Thursday by CIA director William J. Burns. The White House’s Arabia adviser, Brett McGurk, is also expected in the region.
The Post reports Israel is expected to send David Barnea, the head of Mossad, as well as Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar and Maj. Gen. Nitzan Alon.
“The team will have a mandate from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to negotiate, his office said, which has not always been the case,” the Post adds.