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Middle East conflict

US still expects Hamas to attend August 15 talks on Gaza — White House

In Washington’s opinion, an agreement on ceasefire in Gaza will be the best way to ease the new round of tensions currently unfolding in the Middle East

WASHINGTON, August 14. /TASS/. The US administration still expects members of Palestine’s Hamas movement to participate in negotiations on a potential ceasefire in the Gaza Strip on August 15, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has told reporters.

"What we expect is that we fully expect to — to move forward, as they should. As you know, August 15th is when folks are going to come back to the table. All negotiators should return to that table and bring this deal to conclusion," she said.

Commenting on whether she saw any opportunity for progress if Hamas refuses to come back to the negotiating table, she replied: "It is time for Hamas to release the hostages, which include American citizens, and bring relief to the people of Gaza under the deal that is now on the table."

She also said that, in Washington’s opinion, an agreement on ceasefire in Gaza will be the best way to ease the new round of tensions currently unfolding in the Middle East.

"We are very much going to do everything that we can to move forward. We believe negotiators should come to the table. We believe getting to a ceasefire deal is the best way to de-escalate the tensions that we’re seeing," the press secretary added.

Earlier, Hamas's representative in Lebanon Ahmed Abd al-Hadi told Sky News that delegates from Hamas will not take part in the consultations, scheduled to take place in Doha or Cairo on August 15, because Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not interested in reaching an agreement that would end the aggression completely.

On August 9, the leaders of Egypt, Qatar and the US issued a joint statement calling on Israel and Hamas to resume ceasefire talks in the Gaza Strip on August 15 in Doha or Cairo. The mediators also signaled their willingness to present a final draft agreement based on the principles outlined by Biden and supported by UN Security Council Resolution 2735. One hour after the release of the mediators' statement, the Israeli authorities agreed to send a delegation to the talks on August 15. On August 11, Hamas called on the mediators to present them with a concrete plan for implementing the ceasefire agreement in Gaza and to oblige Israel to implement it instead of returning to the negotiating table.

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