Hamas says ‘studying’ invitation for ceasefire negotiations

“We will certainly have a position on this invitation, and it will be announced later officially,” he is quoted as saying in a short statement to Arabi21.

Taha added that “the one obstructing the success of the last proposal is the Israeli occupation” and stressed that “closing the remaining gaps in the ceasefire agreement comes through exerting real pressure on the Israeli side, which was, and still is, practising a policy of placing obstacles in the way of the success of any efforts and endeavours leading to ending the aggression”.

If both Israel and Hamas agree to send delegations to either Doha or Cairo again, this would mark the first time the group is heading into talks with Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar at the helm following the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh.

Qatar, Egypt and the United States have recently called on Israel and Hamas to resume talks to reach a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, as Israel’s continued bombardment of the besieged territory has killed nearly 40,000 Palestinians and raised fears of further regional escalation.

In a joint statement on Thursday, the three countries urged Israel and Hamas “to resume urgent discussion” on August 15 in Doha or Cairo “to close all remaining gaps and commence implementation of the deal without further delay”.

“It is the time to conclude a ceasefire agreement and release hostages and prisoners,” they added.

“We have worked for months to reach framework agreement and it is now on the table, with only details of implementation missing.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office quickly responded to the call, saying in a statement that Tel Aviv would send a delegation to attend talks next week “in order to finalise the details and implement the framework agreement”.

The recent killing of Haniyeh in the Iranian capital of Tehran by Israel also spurred questions about the prospect of continued ceasefire negotiations.

The assassination of Haniyeh – who had been a key figure in the talks – was seen by many as an effort by Netanyahu’s government to scuttle efforts to negotiate an end to the war.