JAKARTA - Head of the Political Bureau of Hamas Ismail Haniyeh on Wednesday blamed Israel for the stalemate of the ceasefire in Gaza, reaffirming a number of important demands.
"They also introduced amendments to proposals that led to deadlocked negotiations," Haniyeh said in a televised address.
The ceasefire talks in Cairo have stalled this month without any agreement, after previously Palestinian militant groups said they agreed to a ceasefire proposal from previously received by Israel's Qatari and Egyptian mediators.
Israel denies this, saying the three-phase proposal approved by Hamas is unacceptable because its terms have been made easier.
Haniyeh further said his group was determined to seek all existing ways to end the war in Gaza, leaving the door open for further mediation efforts. However, he still maintains their demands.
"Any attempt or agreement must ensure a permanent ceasefire, a thorough withdrawal from the entire Gaza Strip, a real prisoner swap deal, repatriation of refugees, reconstruction, and lifting of the blockade," Haniyeh said.
Israel says it wants to reach a prisonership deal for hostages, but has so far rejected any commitment to end a military offensive in Gaza, which it says aims to destroy Hamas.
Haniyeh also firmly rejected the postwar settlements in Gaza that excluded their group.
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"Hamas exists to survive," he said.
"The (Hamas) movement will decide, together with all national factions, the Gaza Strip government after the war," explained Haniyeh.
Israel says Hamas cannot take any role in the Gaza government after the war is over. The United States said it wanted to see Gaza and the West Bank reunite under the Palestinian Authority, which currently has its own government in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
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