Netanyahu denies new conditions for deal with Hamas

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Lerato Khumalo

A new round of negotiations on a ceasefire in the Gaza war is scheduled to take place on Thursday. But it is still unclear whether this will happen.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected accusations that he has set new conditions for the hostage negotiations with Hamas. A letter from Netanyahu at the end of July does not contain any additional demands and does not contradict the proposal from the end of May, the Prime Minister’s office said. Instead, Netanyahu accused the Islamist Hamas of pushing for changes to the May version. The New York Times recently reported on new demands from Israel.

At the end of May, US President Joe Biden presented a draft deal that initially provides for a complete and unrestricted ceasefire lasting six weeks. During this period, a certain group of hostages would be released. In return, Palestinians imprisoned in Israel would be released. In the next phase, the fighting would then be permanently stopped and the remaining hostages released. In a final phase, according to the draft, the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip would begin.

Another round of negotiations is planned for Thursday. The mediators USA, Qatar and Egypt as well as Israel have announced that their representatives will attend the negotiations on Thursday in Doha or Cairo. It is still uncertain whether representatives of Hamas will attend. The talks could be crucial for defusing the explosive situation in the entire Middle East.

For days there have been fears of a retaliatory strike by Iran and its allies against Israel, partly because of the killing of a Hamas leader in the Iranian capital Tehran.