CAIRO: Hamas said on Wednesday it would not take part in a new round of Gaza ceasefire talks slated for Thursday in Qatar, but an official briefed on the talks said mediators expected to consult with the Palestinian group afterwards.
The US has said it expects indirect talks to go ahead as planned in Qatar’s capital Doha on Thursday, and that a ceasefire agreement was still possible, while warning that progress was needed urgently to avert a wider war.
Axios reported that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has postponed a trip to the Middle East that had been expected to begin on Tuesday. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters that CIA Director Bill Burns and US Middle East envoy Brett McGurk will represent Washington at the talks on Thursday in Qatar.
Three senior Iranian officials have said that only a ceasefire deal in Gaza would hold Iran back from direct retaliation against Israel for the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on its soil last month.
“Israel will send the negotiations team on the agreed upon date, that’s tomorrow Aug. 15th, in order to finalize the details of the implementation of the framework agreement,” government spokesperson David Mencer said in a briefing.
The delegation includes Israel’s spy chief David Barnea, head of the domestic security service Ronen Bar and the military’s hostages chief Nitzan Alon, a defense official said.
Hamas has voiced skepticism about the talks, accusing Israel of stalling. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar has been the main obstacle to a deal.
“Going to new negotiations allows the occupation to impose new conditions and employ the maze of negotiation to conduct more massacres,” Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters.
Hamas’ absence from the talks does not eliminate chances of progress since its chief negotiator Khalil Al-Hayya is based in Doha and the group has open channels with Egypt and Qatar.
“Hamas is committed to the proposal presented to it on July 2, which is based on the UN Security Council resolution and the Biden speech and the movement is prepared to immediately begin discussion over a mechanism to implement it,” said Abu Zuhri.
A source familiar with the matter said Hamas wants the mediators to come back with a “serious response” from Israel. If that happens, the group says, it will meet with mediators after the Thursday session. An official briefed on the talks process said mediators expected to consult with Hamas.
In a statement Hamas issued late on Wednesday jointly with some smaller factions, it reaffirmed the outstanding demands the factions wanted a ceasefire agreement to achieve.
The group said negotiations “should examine mechanisms to implement what was agreed upon in the framework deal submitted by mediators that would achieve a comprehensive ceasefire, a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces, breaking the siege, opening crossings and reconstruction of Gaza as well as reaching a serious hostages/prisoners deal.”
The statement rejected any US or Israeli intervention in shaping the day after the war in Gaza.
Hamas to stay out of Gaza truce talks but may meet mediators afterwards
https://arab.news/2hn6m
Hamas to stay out of Gaza truce talks but may meet mediators afterwards
- The US has said it expects indirect talks to go ahead as planned in Qatar’s capital Doha on Thursday
- Hamas has voiced skepticism about the talks, accusing Israel of stalling
Riyadh leads Arab support for Kuwait amid Iraq maritime firing
- Saudi, Qatar, UAE reject Iraq claims under current UN resolutions
- Baghdad says new geographic map in line with international law
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has rejected Iraq’s recent submission to the UN on new maritime borders, which Riyadh says infringes on Kuwait’s territory.
Iraq had reportedly submitted new geographic coordinates in January and February to the UN delineating the nation’s maritime boundaries.
In a statement on X on Monday, the Kingdom’s ministry said the Iraqi filing included changes that extend to Khor Abdullah and parts of the submerged area adjacent to the divided Saudi–Kuwaiti Neutral Zone.
This is an area where the Kingdom shares natural resource ownership with Kuwait under binding bilateral agreements. The statement added that the amendments also impacted Kuwait’s maritime areas and fixed water elevations.
“The Kingdom categorically rejects any claims suggesting the existence of rights for any party in the submerged area beyond the boundaries agreed upon between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait,” the ministry said.
It stressed that existing arrangements are grounded in bilateral accords and consistent with the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.
Riyadh further emphasized the importance of Iraq’s commitment to respecting Kuwait’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
And to adhere to relevant UN resolutions, particularly Security Council Resolution 833 (1993), which demarcated the land and maritime boundaries between Kuwait and Iraq following the 1991 Gulf War.
Qatar offered its support, saying the coordinates lists and map submitted by Iraq infringed on Kuwait’s sovereignty, in a statement on Sunday by its Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The ministry “also voiced its hope that the rules and principles of international law, and what is stipulated in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 1982, will be taken into consideration.”
The UAE also expressed solidarity with Kuwait, reiterating its support for the country “against any infringement on its sovereignty or national interests.”
On Saturday, Kuwait summoned Iraq’s charge d’affaires over the new boundaries that includes the Fasht Al-Qaid and Fasht Al-Aij areas, which it claims has never been in dispute.
Iraq’s Foreign Ministry has said that the submission was in line with international law.
While the UN demarcated the land boundary between Iraq and Kuwait after Iraq’s 1990 invasion of its southern neighbor, certain aspects of the maritime delimitation have remained sensitive and are expected to be addressed through bilateral negotiations.
