
File Photo: Palestinians fleeing advancing Israeli tanks in north Gaza last winter. AFP
An official with knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Saturday that mediated negotiations between Israel and Hamas to reach a new ceasefire are due to restart next week. An Israeli official said the government had an "intention" to renew talks.
However, Izzat Al-Rishq, a member of Hamas' political bureau, said in a statement that the movement "did not receive anything from the mediators."
"What is clearly required is a complete and permanent cessation of aggression in the entire Gaza Strip, not just in Rafah alone," he added.
"This is what our people are waiting for, and this is the foundation and starting point of everything."
The latest round of talks held in Cairo in early May concluded without reaching a deal.
Last week, Egypt threatened to withdraw from its mediating role in Gaza truce talks, following a CNN report claiming that Egypt changed the terms of the latest ceasefire deal in Gaza.
Cairo has expressed categorical rejection of these allegations.
Egypt and Qatar have been mediating to bridge the gap between the Palestinians and Israelis since the brief truce in late November that lasted for a few days and allowed a swap of detainees and captives.
On Friday, CIA Director Bill Burns, Mossad Director David Barnea, and Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani met in Paris to discuss the Gaza war.
Egyptian officials did not attend the Paris round of talks, the CNN added, although Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry was in the French capital.
The Egyptian top diplomat attended an Arab-Islamic ministerial meeting in Paris with President Emmanuel Macron and the foreign ministers of Qatar, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia to discuss the actions needed to halt the Israeli war on Gaza.
However, American officials confirmed to CNN that Egypt is still heavily involved in the truce talks.
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