Hamas declared at the end of Friday its rejection of new demands from the United States in ceasefire talks which it held with Israeli envoys in Qatar for two days. With more than ten months of conflict, the pressure of the international community is increasing to reach a ceasefire, although US President Joe Biden noted that there had been advances.
The U. S. has aligned itself with European counterparts in wanting a quick end to the conflict, especially following the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in July. Egyptian, Qatari, and US mediators have not been successful in defining a framework for the ceasefire that Biden proposed in May this year.
The preparatory talks showed that Hamas had insistence on issues such as the Israeli military forces on the Gaza-Egypt border and its right of veto on the Palestinian prisoners issue.
In related news, an armed settler used his car and a knife in the occupied West Bank, killed a Palestinian man, and left another injured, and international powers condemned the attack. The high representative of the European Union in foreign affairs pledged to impose measures on the Israeli personnel inciting settlers’ rampage.
Today, whilst negotiations are still ongoing, the airstrikes continue in the Gaza Strip; one has to wonder if the so-called diplomatic process is genuine at all.
