Hamas has 'not closed the door' on talks: Official

AFP , Wednesday 19 Mar 2025

Hamas has not shut the door on negotiations, an official from the Palestinian group said Wednesday, after Israel renewed its war on Gaza breaking the January 19 ceasefire deal.

Gaza
Palestinians leave Beit Hanun in the northern Gaza Strip with their belongings following Israeli evacuation orders . AFP

 

"Hamas has not closed the door on negotiations but we insist there is no need for new agreements," Taher al-Nunu told AFP on the phone from Cairo, also calling for Israel to be forced to implement the ceasefire.

"There is no need for new agreements in light of the existing agreement signed by all parties," he added.

Under the ceasefire deal drafted under former US president Joe Biden's administration, a second phase of the truce should have begun in early March.

The agreement stipulated that Israeli forces should withdraw from Gaza and that a more lasting ceasefire should take effect during a second phase.

"We have no conditions, but we demand that the occupation be compelled to immediately halt its aggression and war of extermination, and begin the second phase of negotiations," Nunu said.

He called on the international community to "take urgent action" to end the war, while accusing Israel of "violating the ceasefire agreement it signed".

Israel on Tuesday launched the biggest and deadliest wave of air strikes since the truce took effect.

The truce agreement brokered by Qatar, the United States and Egypt took effect more than 15 months into the war.

According to the Palestinian health ministry, Israel's strikes on Tuesday killed more than 400 people, making it one of the deadliest days in Gaza in the entire war.

On Wednesday, Gaza's civil defense agency said 14 people had been killed in new Israeli strikes on the territory since midnight.

 

* This story was edited by Ahram Online.

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