Hamas' new leader, Yahya Sinwar, is said to have told Arab mediators on Monday that the terrorist-stamped Palestinian movement will not attend the meeting - unless Israel first shows that the country is "serious about negotiations" and stops its attacks in the Gaza Strip. This is reported by The Wall Street Journal.
The same signals are sent by Ahmad Abd al-Hadi, Hamas' representative in Lebanon. In an interview with The New York Times, he says that the group will not participate in the negotiations.
(Israel's leader) Netanyahu is not interested in reaching an agreement that completely ends the aggression. Rather, he is deceitful and evasive and wants to prolong the war, or even expand it in the region, says Abd al-Hadi to the newspaper.
Unusual appeal
The stakes are high, not just for Gaza. US President Joe Biden said on Tuesday that Iran may refrain from a feared massive attack on Israel if a Gaza agreement is reached. The entire Middle East has been trembling with fear of Iran's revenge after Hamas leader Ismail Haniya was killed, likely by Israel, in Iran's capital Tehran.
Biden, along with Egypt's and Qatar's leaders, made an unusual, joint appeal to Israel and Hamas to participate in the negotiations on Thursday.
They are scheduled to be held in Qatar's capital Doha.
Will not meet
Benjamin Netanyahu has confirmed that an Israeli negotiating delegation will participate in Doha. Among them are the head of the intelligence service Mossad, David Barnea, and the head of the security service Shin Bet, Ronen Bar, reports AFP.
Sources close to the prime minister have, however, questioned in Israeli media whether he really believes in an agreement that would, among other things, mean that Hamas' Israeli hostages would be released. According to reports, Netanyahu has such tough conditions in the talks that it is seen as excluded that Hamas will agree to them. Moreover, there are question marks about how much freedom of action Israel's negotiators have. Even in previous rounds, there have been contradictory signals, when the negotiators said one thing but the government in Jerusalem another.
In practice, the two sides will not meet in the same room during the talks. The mediators Qatar and Egypt will shuttle between the parties with the different proposals.
And it can still open up for some results even if Hamas does not show up on Thursday. Two anonymous sources within the movement tell NYT that the group is willing to talk to the mediators after their meeting with Israel.
