Hamas rejects new Israeli conditions in truce talks

Hamas said Sunday that it rejects new Israeli conditions put forward in Gaza ceasefire talks, casting further doubt on the chances of a breakthrough in the latest US-backed effort to end the 10-month-old war.

Months of on-off talks have failed to produce an agreement to end Israel's devastating military campaign in Gaza or free the remaining hostages.

Key sticking points in ongoing talks mediated by the United States, Egypt and Qatar include an Israeli presence in the so-called Philadelphi Corridor, a narrow 14.5 km-long stretch of land along Gaza's southern border with Egypt.

Hamas said Israel has backtracked on a commitment to withdraw troops from the Corridor and put forward other new conditions, including the screening of displaced Palestinians as they return to the enclave's more heavily populated north when the ceasefire begins.

"We will not accept discussions about retractions from what we agreed to on July 2 or new conditions," Hamas official Osama Hamdan told the group's Al-Aqsa TV Sunday.

Hamdan also said Hamas has handed to mediators its response to the latest proposal, saying US talk of an imminent deal is false.

A Hamas official said the group's delegation left Cairo after meeting with Egyptian and Qatari mediators trying to negotiate a ceasefire in the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.

"The Hamas delegation left Cairo tonight, after meeting with Egyptian and Qatari mediators who briefed them on the results of the latest negotiations," Izzat al-Rishq, said in a statement.
At least 40,405 Palestinians have been killed and 93,468 others injured in Israel's military offensive on Gaza since Oct. 7, said the Gaza Health Ministry.

In the last 24-hours, 71 were killed and 112 were injured in what the ministry called three "massacres" by Israel in the strip.