Displaced Palestinian children push into a queue to get a portion of cooked food from a charity kitchen in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip, ahead of the iftar fast-breaking meal during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. AFP
"The occupation continues to renege on the agreement and refuses to commence the second phase, exposing its intentions of evasion and stalling," Hamas stated.
Hamas has been relentlessly pushing for immediate negotiations on the second phase while Israel and the US have been pressuring for an extension of the first phase. On 2 March, Israel renewed its deadly blockade on the Gaza Strip, and on Sunday, the occupation cut off the territory’s electricity supply.
The move echoed the early days of the genocidal war when Israel announced a "complete siege" on the strip, severing the electricity supply for over six months.
Hamas spokesperson said on Monday that the group has shown "flexibility" in dealing with the mediators and US President Donald Trump’s captive envoy Adam Boehler. The spox noted that Hamas is awaiting the results of the upcoming negotiations, including the Israeli delegation’s current visit to Doha, to gauge "Israel's commitment to moving to the second phase of the Gaza agreement."
Earlier in the day, Hamas spokesperson Abdul Latif Al-Qanoua said that the negotiations conducted with Egyptian and Qatari mediators, as well as Boehler, "focus on ending the war, Israel’s withdrawal from the strip, and its reconstruction."
“We have fully committed to the first phase of the agreement, and our priority now is to shelter our people, provide them with aid, and ensure a permanent ceasefire,” he added. "The occupation aims, through tightening the blockade, closing the crossings, and preventing aid from reaching our people, to push them toward migration, but this is nothing more than an illusion."
Direct talks with US
A recent meeting between Hamas leaders and Boehler focused on the release of an American-Israeli dual national being held by the resistance group in Gaza, a senior Hamas official told Reuters on Sunday.
Hamas political adviser Taher Al-Nono confirmed the unprecedented direct talks with Washington in Doha over the past week.
"Several meetings have already taken place in Doha, focusing on releasing one of the dual-nationality prisoners. We have dealt positively and flexibly, in a way that serves the interests of the Palestinian people," Al-Nono said.
He added that both sides discussed implementing the phased agreement to end the war. "We informed the American delegation that we don't oppose the release of the prisoner within the framework of these talks," Al-Nono added.
Boehler told CNN Sunday that a deal could be reached "within weeks" to secure the release of all remaining captives, not just the five American-Israeli dual nationals, most of whom have been confirmed dead.
Boehler told CNN a "long-term truce" was "real close,” but later Sunday he told Israel's Channel 12 that Washington would back any Israeli decision, including a return to war.
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