Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) said on Friday that the success of indirect ceasefire negotiations with Israel depends on four basic demands, including the return of hundreds of thousands of displaced people to the northern Gaza Strip.
This was discussed during a meeting in the Iranian capital Tehran, between a Hamas delegation, led by the head of its political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, and a PIJ delegation, led by its Secretary-General, Ziyad al-Nakhalah.
In a on their Telegram account, Hamas outlined the four demands: “a complete halt to the (Israeli) aggression, a full withdrawal of the occupation from all of the Gaza Strip, the freedom of return for the displaced (to the north), and the entry of aid to meet the needs of our people in the Strip.”
Hamas added that these four demands being met would mean the release of Israeli captives held in Gaza as part of a prisoner exchange deal.
Earlier this week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pulled the Israeli team from negotiations in Doha, saying Israel would not surrender to Hamas’s “delusional demands”.
This came after Hamas said on Tuesday it would reject any proposed deal that did not include a complete withdrawal of the Israeli army from Gaza and the return of the displaced population to the north of the enclave.
However, on Friday, Netanyahu authorised Israeli negotiators to resume indirect peace talks with Hamas in Doha and Cairo.
Israel and the US have both supported visions for postwar Gaza that do not include Hamas remaining in power. But Hamas and PIJ said in the same statement that they “rejected any political projects or steps that would create new realities in Gaza far from the will of our people and its resistance”.
“Any step must be the result of full national consensus,” they added.
The two Gaza-based groups also took aim at the United States and other Israeli allies.
“Continuing military support for Israel and providing political cover for its crimes is complicity in the ongoing crime in Gaza,” they said.
Israel has continued its war on Gaza despite the UN Security Council resolution which was passed on Monday. The resolution demands an end to all hostilities in the Palestinian enclave for the remainder of Ramadan, a proposal Hamas has supported.