Head of Hamas Yahya Sinwar (right) shaking hands with a Qassam Brigades fighter in Gaza 2022. (Credit: Mohammed Abed/AFP)
BEIRUT — Hamas "will not attend the cease-fire negotiations set for Thursday in Doha," a source from the militant group in Lebanon told L'Orient Today Wednesday.
“Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is using those negotiations to stall more time and commit more massacres. Does it matter if we go to the negotiation table tomorrow in Doha?" the source said. "What matters is the outcome.”
The source also stated that a cease-fire plan for Gaza should be based on the talks held a month and a half ago, rather than on any new rounds of negotiations. The source is referring to Hamas' agreement on U.S. President Joe Biden's cease-fire plan introduced on May 31.
In a statement on Sunday night, the group called on mediators “to present a plan to implement what was agreed upon by the movement on July 2, 2024, based on Biden's plan and the U.N. Security Council resolution [to implement a cease-fire] instead of wasting time.”
Netanyahu insists that for a cease-fire to take place, Israeli troops need to remain present in Gaza, like in the West Bank. However, Hamas has repeatedly insisted that that is out of the question.
Netanyahu added new conditions at the end of July to the proposed cease-fire in Gaza, hardening Israel's position and complicating negotiations, The New York Times reported on Wednesday, citing confidential documents according to which Tel Aviv is now asking to retain control of Gaza's border with Egypt, which was not included in the original proposal endorsed by Biden.
Since the last round of negotiations, Israel has killed Hezbollah military commander Fouad Shukur in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and committed several massacres in both Gaza and the West Bank.
"The important thing is not about Hamas attending or not, it’s about Israel agreeing to stop the bloodbath and take the negotiations seriously," the Hamas source said.
“Does Israel really want to stop the war? Clearly not,” the source concluded.
'Netanyahu has repeatedly chosen conflict over peace'
The U.S. has said however that “a cease-fire agreement is still possible.”
A top Hamas official said the group is losing faith in the United States' ability to mediate a cease-fire in Gaza.
Osama Hamdan told The Associated Press in an interview Tuesday that Hamas will only participate if the talks focus on implementing a proposal detailed by Biden in May and endorsed internationally.
The U.S. referred to it as an Israeli proposal and Hamas agreed to it in principle, but Israel said that Biden's speech was not entirely consistent with the proposal itself. Both sides later proposed changes, leading each to accuse the other of obstructing a deal.
L’Orient Today spoke to Hilal Khashan, professor of political science at the American University of Beirut, to further understand Hamas’s stance on current cease-fire talks.
“They are calling Iran’s bluff. The Iranians keep saying they want to avenge Haniyeh, but they don’t really want to take action. They said they might consider not retaliating if there is a cease-fire in Gaza. So, Hamas agreed to stick to the agreement from last July. They are telling Hezbollah and Iran, 'If you want to retaliate, go ahead. Don’t claim to be concerned about us,'” Khashan said.
According to Khashan, the Palestinian group also knows that “Netanyahu wants a war and that there is no definite assurance or guarantee of a cease-fire. Every time Netanyahu has been in a similar situation, he has chosen conflict over peace."
The Iranians are also torn. “They want to avenge Haniyeh, but they don’t want to attack Israel in a way where it would trigger a regional wider war," Khashan said.
In April, Tehran conducted its first-ever attack against its Israeli enemy via hundreds of drones and missiles from its territory after Israel attacked the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria.
“Of course, the U.S. is pressuring Qatar to make Hamas attend the meetings and in turn, Qatar is pressuring Hamas and even threatened to kick the militant group out of Doha several times,” he said.
Hamas has repeatedly stated that they are not under pressure from Doha to accept a deal and ridiculed claims that Doha will sanction or expel them.
The Israeli war on Gaza has so far killed over 39,929 Palestinians since Oct.7.
