CAIRO, November 2. /TASS/. Hamas insists that any deal it makes with Israel include not only a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip but also the release of hostages it is holding in the Palestinian enclave, the Al-Qahira Al-Ekhbariya television channel said.
According to the television channel’s source in Egyptian security agencies, the Palestinian movement "insists that issues of a ceasefire and hostage release deal not be separated at Gaza settlement talks [with Israel." Hamas "is afraid that after the release of hostages, the Israeli side would resume combat operations in the enclave," the source said.
Egypt "is sparing no effort to resume the negotiating process" between Hamas and Israel, which "came to a deadlock this July," the source said, adding that Egypt’s mediatory efforts "are being supported by the international community," despite the fact that "both parties [to the conflict] are unwilling to react to Egypt’s actions positively."
The Palestinian Maan agency, which is close to Hamas, reported on November 1 that the Palestinian movement had rejected the initiative from go-betweens at the indirect talks with Israel to ink a deal on a temporary ceasefire and the exchange of a limited number of hostages for Palestinians held in Israeli prisons. Hamas claims that this initiative ignores their basic demands.
According to a Hamas spokesman, this initiative "does not meet the urgent humanitarian needs of the Palestinian people as it doesn’t provide for the restoration of the infrastructure or the resumption of the routine operation of crossings, the Rafah checkpoint in particular, on Gaza’s border with Egypt." Hamas, in his words, scrutinized the mediators’ ideas and reiterated its position that the Palestinians "are seeking a permanent ceasefire, complete withdrawal of [Israeli] occupational forces from the enclave and the lifting of the blockade of it, the return of displaced persons to their homes, and the signing of a comprehensive agreement on exchanging" hostages for Palestinian prisoners.