Senior Hamas official tells Lebanese TV ‘no real progress’ in hostage talks, blames Israel

Lazar Berman is The Times of Israel's diplomatic reporter

A senior Hamas official tells Lebanese Al Mayadeen channel that “there is no real progress” in hostage talks.

The official blames Israel’s “refusal to give clear answers regarding Hamas demands.”

Those demands – nonstarters for Israel – are a full ceasefire, the withdrawal of IDF troops from Gaza, and allowing displaced Gazans to return home before the terrorist organization gives any information on the hostages it holds.

Egypt, Qatar and the United States have been mediating in talks for a temporary ceasefire and hostage release deal in the almost five-month-old war between Israel and Hamas, which began with a shock assault launched by the Gaza terror group on southern Israel on October 7.

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