Hamas: Israel trying to wreck truce talks

Hamas accuses Israel of trying to scuttle truce talks in Cairo, saying the Jewish state refused to send negotiators to avoid questioning over the “escalating massacres” in Gaza.

“Whether the delegation comes or not… it will not run away from its responsibilities. The Palestinian people will pursue them at the ICC (International Criminal Court),” Ezzat al-Rishq says.

A Palestinian delegation, which includes members of Gaza’s Hamas rulers and President Mahmoud Abbas’s Palestinian Authority, agreed on Sunday to joint demands for a truce with Israel.

Members of the delegation handed the demands today to Egyptian intelligence chief Mohamed Farid Tohamy, the Egyptian state news agency MENA reports.

The Palestinian demands agreed to on Sunday include “a ceasefire; Israeli troop withdrawal from Gaza; the end of the siege of Gaza and opening its border crossings.” They have also demanded fishing rights up to 12 nautical miles off Gaza’s coast and the release of Palestinian prisoners demanded by Hamas and Abbas.

Al-Rishq says Egypt will “try to press Israel” to accept these demands and that eventually Israel “may change its position and send a delegation at the last moment.”

— AFP

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