Three days of negotiations end in a stalemate, as Hamas and Israel insist on each other giving in to their demands.
Three days of negotiations with Hamas over a ceasefire in Gaza have failed to make any progress, less than a week before the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, the informal deadline to reach an agreement.
The United States, Qatar and Egypt have spent weeks trying to negotiate a deal in which Hamas would free Israeli captives in exchange for a six-week ceasefire, the release of some Palestinian prisoners and more aid to Gaza.
Al Jazeera's Hamdah Salhut said on Tuesday that the latest round of talks in Cairo, Egypt, “ended in a stalemate” and that it was unclear what would happen next.
“The Israelis say they are waiting for Hamas' response, while Hamas says they are waiting for Israel's response,” he said, reporting from occupied East Jerusalem.
“The mediators in the middle are trying to bridge these gaps by trying to find a solution between both sides, but it seems like there are sticking points that just don't seem to get resolved.”
Hamas has refused to release the roughly 100 hostages it holds, and the remains of about 30 more, unless Israel ends its offensive, withdraws from Gaza and releases large numbers of Palestinian prisoners, including fighters serving life imprisonment.
A senior Hamas official, Osama Hamdan, said Tuesday that his group wants a permanent ceasefire, rather than a six-week pause, and a “complete withdrawal” of Israeli forces.
“The security of our people will only be achieved through a permanent ceasefire, an end to aggression and the withdrawal of every inch of the Gaza Strip,” Hamdan told reporters in Beirut.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has publicly rejected those demands and has repeatedly vowed to continue the war until Hamas is dismantled and all captives returned. Israel did not send a delegation to the latest round of talks.
Meanwhile, Israel wants Hamas to hand over a list of captives who are alive, as well as the captive-to-prisoner ratio it seeks in any release deal.
Hamas leader Bassem Naim told the AFP news agency on Monday that the group did not know “who among them” [the captives] They are alive or dead, killed by strikes or by hunger,” and that the captives were held by numerous groups in multiple places.
“So there are two completely different perspectives here and two different sticking points about what the other side is not willing to compromise on,” Salhut said.
At US-Qatar Strategic Dialogue talks on Tuesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged Hamas to accept the ceasefire plan.
“It is up to Hamas to make decisions about whether it is prepared to participate in that ceasefire,” the top US diplomat said when he met Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in Washington, DC, US.
“Qatar, the United States and our partners will always be persistent in ensuring this deal happens,” Al Thani said, standing next to Blinken.
With the latest round of talks over, Hamas has presented a proposal that mediators will discuss with Israel in the coming days, two Egyptian officials said, according to The Associated Press news agency.
At least 1,139 people were killed and some 250 taken captive in Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel on October 7. More than 100 captives were freed during a week-long ceasefire in November.
Israel's retaliatory offensive against Gaza has killed more than 30,000 people, mostly women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.
Nearly five months of fighting has left much of Gaza in ruins and created a worsening humanitarian catastrophe, with many, especially in the devastated northern region, struggling to find food to survive.
