The Islamist group Hamas reported this Thursday that part of the negotiations focus on reaching an agreement to be able to gather more information about the whereabouts and well-being of the hostages, since some are in the hands of other factions or already “under the rubble.”
In a statement in English, the head of political and international relations of the Hamas political bureau, Basem Naim, said that a truce is needed to “have enough time and security to collect definitive and more precise data on the captured Israelis.”
“Because they are in different places (held) by different groups, some of them are under the rubble murdered with our own people and we negotiated to get heavy equipment for this purpose”he detailed.
Naim was referring to the “repeated questions” from the international press about the well-being of the hostages, after several media outlets published in recent days that the group does not have 40 captives to exchange in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
The senior Hamas official stopped short of directly rejecting the latest draft formulated in Cairo, but he did reiterate the main demands of the Islamist group, which has been asking for months for a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces, the return of all displaced people from the north to their homes; in addition to a definitive ceasefire.
“What the Israelis have not achieved with indiscriminate bombing and genocide for six months, they will not achieve with more force or absurd and delusional negotiations”assured Naim.
All in all, negotiations continue, although Hamas may not send its own delegation to Cairo again, as Palestinian sources familiar with the talks informed EFE this Thursday.
The group would be preparing a new document for the Egyptian and Qatari mediators with a counteroffer, after not accepting the latest draft which, according to leaks in the Israeli press, included in a first phase the release of 40 hostages in exchange for about 900 Palestinian prisoners. EFE (I)
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