CAIRO: A Hamas official said on Monday no progress was made at a new round of Gaza ceasefire talks in Cairo also attended by Israeli, Qatar and US representatives, after the Egyptian hosts said headway had been achieved on the agenda.
Western powers have voiced outrage over what they see as an unacceptably high Palestinian civilian death toll and humanitarian crisis arising from Israel’s military onslaught to destroy Hamas in tiny, densely populated Gaza.
Israel and Hamas sent teams to Egypt on Sunday after the arrival on Saturday of CIA Director William Burns, whose presence underlined rising US pressure for a deal that would free hostages held in Gaza and get aid to isolated civilians.
“There is no change in the position of the occupation and therefore, there is nothing new in the Cairo talks,” the Hamas official said.
A Palestinian official privy to talks said deadlock continued over Israel’s refusal to end the war, withdraw its forces from Gaza, allow all civilians to return to their homes and lift a 17-year-old blockade to allow speedy reconstruction of the coastal enclave. These steps took precedence over Israel’s prime demand for a release of hostages in exchange for Palestinians held in Israeli prisons, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity. “Regarding the exchange of prisoners, Hamas was and is willing to be more flexible, but there is no flexibility over our…main demands,” he said.