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The National
17 hours ago
- Politics
- The National
Hamas demands mediators guarantee positive result for Gaza ceasefire talks to continue
Hamas wants to continue with ceasefire negotiations only if mediators can guarantee a positive outcome, a senior official said on Monday. Mahmoud Taha, a Hamas official in Beirut, was speaking after sources told The National remote discussions had intensified in recent days between Egyptian and Qatari mediators on one side, and US and Israeli officials on the other. 'We have no objection to continuing negotiations if there are guarantees from the mediators and the international community to ensure results,' Mr Taha said. 'The core issue is the cessation of aggression, which [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu refuses to address in the negotiations." Hamas has already agreed unconditionally to a 60-day truce and signalled it was open to suggestions to lay down its arms and for its leaders to leave Gaza and live in exile with their families. However, a Hamas request for "small amendments" to the deal provoked an angry response from the US and Israel. The group has since informed mediators it had dropped its request, a source said. Mr Netanyahu said Israel and the US were "considering alternative options" to bring home the remaining 49 hostages and end Hamas's rule in Gaza. The two allies withdrew their negotiators from Qatar on Friday, where the latest round of Gaza talks started on July 6. US President Donald Trump suggested Mr Netanyahu should intensify military action against Hamas to eliminate the group. 'Hamas didn't really want to make a deal, I think they want to die,' Mr Trump said. It is time to 'finish the job' and 'get rid' of Hamas, he added. Mr Taha said: 'Trump's remarks about changing his strategy in Gaza and threatening Hamas are irresponsible and do not intimidate the movement. If Israel truly had more cards to play, they wouldn't be negotiating with Hamas.' He said 'all of these statements are aimed at pressuring Hamas into making concessions in the talks," calling on the US to "recalibrate" its policy. The back-and-forth between Mr Trump and Hamas marks a shift from earlier this month, when Hamas said Gaza ceasefire talks with Israel were progressing due to Mr Trump's involvement in the process. Change in strategy Israel's announcement of a daily pause in military operations in three parts of Gaza and the opening of new aid corridors was, sources said, effectively the implementation of the humanitarian segment of the latest proposals to pause the Gaza war. The war in Gaza began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led fighters stormed southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 250 hostages back to Gaza. Israel's military response has killed nearly 60,000 Palestinians and wounded more than twice that number, Gaza health officials say. It has also reduced much of the enclave to ruins and displaced nearly all of the 2.3 million population. Mr Trump said Israel would have to make a decision on its next steps in Gaza. He underscored the importance of securing the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, saying the group had suddenly 'hardened' its stance on the issue. 'They don't want to give them back and so Israel is going to have to make a decision,' he said at the start of a meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at his golf property in Turnberry, south-west Scotland. "I know what I'd do but I don't think it's appropriate that I say it. But Israel is going to have to make a decision," he said, while also claiming – without evidence – that Hamas was stealing food coming into Gaza and selling it. Israel has also accused Hamas of looting aid but a US government analysis found no evidence of systematic theft. US Senator Lindsey Graham has said Israel is preparing to intensify its military campaign in Gaza, comparing the strategy to allied operations on Tokyo and Berlin at the end of the Second World War. 'What we're talking about today is a change in strategy. I think President Trump has come to believe, and I've certainly come to believe, there's no way you're going to negotiate an end to this war with Hamas,' Mr Graham told NBC. 'Hamas is a terrorist organisation that is chartered to destroy the State of Israel. They're religious Nazis. They hold Israeli hostages.' Mr Graham, from South Carolina, said Israel has concluded that dismantling Hamas is the only way to ensure its security.
The National
02-07-2025
- Politics
- The National
US not serious about ending Gaza war, says Hamas official
The US is not serious about ending the Gaza war and bears direct responsibility for the conflict by supporting 'massacres' in the territory, a Hamas official has told The National. Mahmoud Taha, an official at the Hamas media office in Beirut, was speaking after US President Donald Trump asserted that Israel is moving towards a ceasefire. Mr Taha described Washington's policy as a 'blatant contradiction, clear lies, and hypocrisy' in light of violence on the ground. Mr Trump said on Tuesday that Israel has agreed to the 'necessary conditions' to finalise a 60-day truce. During that period, 'we will work with all parties to end the war', he said on his Truth Social platform. 'The Qataris and Egyptians, who have worked very hard to help bring peace, will deliver this final proposal,' Mr Trump said. 'I hope, for the good of the Middle East, that Hamas takes this deal, because it will not get better – it will only get worse.' Mr Trump also said he would be 'very firm' with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who will visit Washington next week, on the need to end the 20-month conflict. However, Mr Taha said Hamas officials 'do not trust these statements because the reality on the ground contradicts what they are saying in the media'. He said no official proposal had yet been put forward for a ceasefire. Trump says he hopes for Gaza ceasefire 'sometime next week' 'They talk about a proposal and a potential ceasefire next week, while at the same time Trump is sending a multi-million-dollar weapons deal to Israel to kill children and women. How does that make sense?' Mr Taha said. 'The US administration is not serious about ending the aggression on Gaza and bears direct responsibility for supporting and participating in the massacres. The death toll is rising daily.' Contact between Hamas and Israel on one side and mediators from Egypt, Qatar and the US on the other has increased over the past week in Cairo. The objective is to find enough common ground to hold another round of talks, sources have told The National. A senior Israeli official, Ron Dermer, has also been in Washington holding discussions. Hamas officials previously told The National that the group was engaging positively with the mediators, but that the fate of a possible ceasefire lies in the talks between the US and Israel. Mr Taha reiterated that message on Wednesday. 'We hope to reach an agreement that ends the aggression and leads to the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza as soon as possible,' he said. 'But the issue lies with the Israeli side and with the US administration, which is aligned with Netanyahu and his fascist government.'
Saba Yemen
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Saba Yemen
Hamas: We are open to any proposal that ends war, allows aid into Gaza
Gaza - (Saba): Mahmoud Taha, a member of the political leadership of the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), confirmed on Wednesday that the movement is dealing positively and flexibly with mediators to reach an agreement to halt the Israeli genocide in the Gaza Strip. However, the Israeli Prime Minister, the war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu, always rejects the agreement and continues to commit massacres. Taha's remarks came during his comment on the new proposal by US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff regarding a prisoner exchange deal and ending the war. Taha revealed in a statement to Sputnik Radio that "the movement has nothing official yet," but at the same time, he affirmed "complete openness with mediators to any proposal that ends the war and allows food and medical aid into the Gaza Strip." He pointed out that "the American position has been and continues to support the Israeli enemy, despite the meetings that have taken place between Hamas and the US President's envoy." He said, "We proposed a single agreement to release all prisoners in exchange for a full withdrawal from Gaza and a resumption of aggression." Whatsapp Telegram Email Print
