Hamas, 'Gaza truce talks back to square one'

"The Israelis want to focus on one thing; the disarmament of the Palestinian resistance," negotiator Qais Abdel-Karim told Anadolu Agency late Sunday following a meeting with the Egyptian mediators. "Talking about disarmament is enough for us to label these amendments unacceptable," he added. Abdel-Karim said that the talks have not achieved "decisive outcome" due to the Israeli team's amendments to the Egyptian document on a long-term Gaza truce. The Palestinian team later held a meeting in Cairo to address the points discussed with the Egyptian side. Asked whether the Egyptian mediators asked for an extension to the five-day ceasefire, due to end Monday midnight, Abdel-Karim said the issue was not raised in the Sunday meeting. Senior Hamas leader Moussa Abu Marzouq, for his part, said that the Israeli government has "rejected" the Egyptian offer, taking the negotiations back to square one. The indirect talks are expected to continue Monday as the Egyptian-brokered five-day truce enters its final day.

The talks follow more than a month of Israeli attacks against the besieged Gaza Strip, leaving at least 2016 Palestinians dead and more than 10,000 others injured. About 64 Israeli troops were also killed in Gaza combat, while three Israeli civilians were killed by rockets fired from the coastal enclave. The coastal strip, home to some 1.8 million Palestinians, has reeled under a crippling Israeli blockade since 2007, which has badly affected residents' livelihoods.