Jerusalem, Feb 15 (IANS) Israel has said it did not receive any new proposals from Hamas for the ceasefire and hostage-release deal at the Cairo meeting attended by Qatari, Egyptian, and US negotiators.
“Israel has not received any new proposal from Hamas for the release of our hostages,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement, in a first official comment on the Tuesday meeting, which was attended also by Israel’s Mossad chief.
The office said that Netanyahu “insists that Israel will not yield to Hamas’ outrageous demands” and that “a change in Hamas’ positions will allow progress in negotiations”, Xinhua news agency reported.
Earlier on Wednesday, media reports quoting American officials said that no breakthrough was achieved, but progress was made at the talks.
Hamas is demanding an end to the war in exchange for the release of hostages, while Israel agrees only to a time-limited ceasefire. Both sides are willing to include the release of Palestinian prisoners in the deal, but there is also disagreement over the number of prisoners to be released.
The meeting came amid increasing international calls to end the 131-day war, which claimed the lives of at least 28,576 Palestinians in Gaza and about 1,400 Israelis.
–IANS
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