CAIRO, June 4. /TASS/. The conditions for the Gaza ceasefire talks that were outlined by US President Joe Biden demonstrate that Israel has no intention to withdraw its troops from the enclave, senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan said.

"The US president’s words about talks that would proceed until the parties reach a consensus indicate that Israel is interested only in one type of a ceasefire - when it can return its hostages - and after that it will resume its aggression against the Palestinian people," he said, adding that the Israeli authorities "don’t want a ceasefire and don’t want to achieve any results at the talks."

The Hamas official called on the mediators to press Israel for a "clear position on a permanent ceasefire and the withdrawal of troops from the enclave" because otherwise the movement would not accept the deal for the exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners.

On May 31, US President Joe Biden announced his three-phase Israel-Palestine ceasefire plan, with each phase lasting six weeks. The first stage envisages a complete ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli troops from populated localities in Gaza and the release of hostages held by Hamas in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian inmates from Israeli prisons. Apart from that, the parties are supposed to begin talks during this stage, with the ceasefire staying in place until they reach an agreement. Phase two provides for the release of all surviving hostages, including the military. The third stage will see the beginning of the reconstruction of the war-devastated Gaza Strip.

On the same day, Hamas said that it was positive about Biden’s initiative but stressed that it would agree to look at the proposals only after the Israeli side declared its commitment to the same principles.