CAIRO (Reuters) -A senior Hamas official said on Tuesday the Palestinian militant group was studying new proposals from mediators to end the Gaza war but reiterated that these should entail a complete Israeli military withdrawal from the enclave.
“The movement has confirmed it is open to any deal or ideas that ends the suffering of our people in Gaza and achieve a permanent ceasefire, and the occupation’s withdrawal from all of Gaza Strip,” Sami Abu Zuhri said in a televised speech.
He also said an agreement must end the Israeli-led blockade of the coastal enclave, allow unrestricted relief aid and a reconstruction of Gaza, and achieve a swap of Israeli hostages in Gaza for Palestinian prisoners in Israel.
Abu Zuhri’s statement signalled no change to the faction’s outstanding conditions. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the war can only end when Hamas is eradicated.
Qatar will work as mediator along with U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration “until the last minute” before the Nov. 5 presidential election to reach a Gaza ceasefire deal, a Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson said on Tuesday.
“We don’t foresee any negative result of the elections on the mediation process itself. We believe we are dealing with institutions, and in a country like the United States the institutions are invested in finding a resolution to this crisis,” spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari told a press conference.
(Reporting by Nidal Al-Mughrabi and Jaidaa Taha; editing by Alex Richardson and Mark Heinrich)
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