Hamas said Friday it rejected "new conditions" in a Gaza ceasefire proposal that US-led mediators presented during two days of talks in Qatar. Diplomatic efforts have so far failed to alleviate the suffering endured over more than 10 months of war, but US President Joe Biden insisted after the latest round of talks that "we are closer than we have ever been". He is sending US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Israel this weekend to push the latest proposal, the State Department said.
Egyptian, Qatari and US mediators have been seeking to finalise details of a framework initially outlined by Biden in May, which he said Israel had proposed. In a joint statement, the mediators said they had presented both sides with a proposal that "bridges remaining gaps" and will continue working in the coming days to hash out the specifics on humanitarian provisions and the hostage-prisoners swap. Talks aiming to secure a rapid deal are set to resume in Cairo "before the end of next week".
Hamas, which did not attend the Doha talks, swiftly announced its opposition to what it called "new conditions" from Israel in the latest plan. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on mediators to "pressure" Hamas to accept Biden's framework. Threats by Iran and its proxies to attack Israel have added renewed urgency to the efforts to hammer out a Gaza ceasefire, with mediators seeking a deal in the hopes of dousing a wider regional conflict.
"No one in the region should take actions to under.