Hamas rejects 'new' Gaza truce conditions as Biden says deal closer than ever

Hamas said on Friday the Palestinian group rejected "new conditions" in a Gaza ceasefire plan the United States presented after two days of talks with Israeli negotiators in Qatar.

As international pressure mounted for a ceasefire after more than 10 months of war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, US President Joe Biden said: "We are closer than we have ever been."

Washington has joined its European allies in pushing for a swift ceasefire in Gaza since the July 31 killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in an attack in Iran blamed on Israel prompted threats of retaliation and fears of a wider Middle East war.

Egyptian, Qatari and US mediators have been seeking to finalise details of a framework initially outlined by Biden in May, and which he said Israel had proposed. But months of talks have so far failed to pin down the details of a truce and hostage release deal. The mediators said that the two days of talks in Doha were "serious and constructive."

In a joint statement, they said the United States had presented a "bridging proposal" that sought to secure a rapid deal at a new round of talks in Cairo next week.

Hamas swiftly announced its opposition to what it called "new conditions" from Israel in the latest plan.

An informed source told AFP that the conditions Hamas objected to included keeping Israeli troops inside Gaza along the territory's border with Egypt, veto rights for Israel on the Palestinian prisoners to be exchanged for Israeli hostages, and the ability to deport some prisoners rather than send them back to Gaza.

Qatar's lead mediator, Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al Thani spoke with Iran's acting foreign minister Ali Bagheri to brief him about the talks, the foreign ministry in Doha said.

"During the call, they reviewed ... the latest developments in the joint mediation efforts to end the war on the Strip, and stressed the need for calm and de-escalation in the region," the Qatari statement said.

Diplomatic pressure on Israel to agree a truce has increased in recent weeks.

Hamas officials, some analysts and protesters in Israel have accused Netanyahu of prolonging the war.

Ahead of a visit to Israel on Friday with French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne, British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said: "The risk of the situation spiralling out of control is rising."

Britain's foreign ministry said the two ministers would "stress there is no time for delays or excuses from all parties on a ceasefire deal" in Gaza.

'Abhorrent' settler attack

A deadly attack by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank late on Thursday drew international condemnation and calls for sanctions against those within the Israeli government who had enabled the upsurge in settler violence against Palestinians, particularly since the Gaza war began.

The Israeli military said "dozens of Israeli civilians, some of them masked," entered the village of Jit, west of Nablus, and "set fire to vehicles and structures in the area, hurled rocks and Molotov cocktails." A Palestinian man was shot dead.

Villager Hassan Arman said the settlers were armed with knives, a machine gun and a silencer.

"It was horrific," said UN human rights office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani. "What is striking and important to remember is that yesterday's killing in Jit is not an isolated attack, and it is the direct consequence of Israel's policy of settlement in the West Bank," she added.

The Palestinian foreign ministry described the attack as "organised state terrorism."

The British foreign minister called the attack "abhorrent." The French minister said it was "unacceptable."

The EU's top diplomat Josep Borrell said he would propose sanctions against Israeli government "enablers" of Jewish settler violence.

"Day after day, in an almost total impunity, Israeli settlers fuel violence in the occupied West Bank, contributing to endanger any chance of peace," Borrell posted on X.

"The Israeli government must stop these unacceptable actions immediately," he wrote, vowing to "table a proposal for EU sanctions against violent settlers' enablers, including some Israeli government members."

The last was an apparent allusion to far-right ministers in the Israeli government.

One of them, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, was quick to join other Israeli leaders in condemning Thursday night's attack by "criminals."

Agence France-Presse