Hamas says no progress in indirect talks with ‘intransigent’ Israel

GAZA CITY, Palestine

The Palestinian group Hamas said on Thursday that there is still no progress in indirect talks with Israel over a cease-fire in Gaza and a hostage swap deal because Tel Aviv is "intransigent," rejecting every proposal put forward.

"There has been no progress in the negotiations so far. They have stalled despite all of our efforts, unfortunately," Hamas senior leader Osama Hamdan said at a press conference.

Despite his group's high flexibility in facilitating a deal, he said the Israeli position remains "intransigent" and refuses to respond to the Palestinian side's demands.

"After the recent round (of negotiations) in Cairo, still the (Israeli) occupation government is elusive, and negotiations revolve in a vicious cycle," the senior Hamas leader added.

He reiterated his group's demands, which were presented during the talks, including a complete halt to Israeli aggression on Gaza, the withdrawal of the Israeli army from the enclave, the return of displaced Palestinians to their homes in northern Gaza, increasing the flow of humanitarian aid into the strip, and the start of the Gaza Strip reconstruction process.

The government in Tel Aviv believes 134 Israelis are being held in Gaza, while it holds at least 9,100 Palestinians in its jails.

Indirect talks between Israel and the Hamas group are taking place in Cairo and Doha, to reach an agreement that includes a hostage swap in which Israeli captives are released in exchange for the release of Palestinians from Israeli jails.

Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on the Palestinian territory since Oct. 7, 2023 cross-border attack by Hamas which killed nearly 1,200 people.

Over 33,000 Palestinians have since been killed and more than 75,500 others injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

The Israeli war, now in its 181st day, has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

On March 25, the UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire in Gaza during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. While Hamas welcomed the resolution, Israel rejected the cease-fire call and vowed to continue its war on the Palestinian enclave.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the ICJ, which in January issued an interim ruling that ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar in Ankara