Gaza: The Egyptian-brokered indirect talks between Hamas and Israel over enforcing a ceasefire deal are frozen, said a senior Islamic Hamas movement leader Saturday.
Musa Abu Marzooq, a member of the movement’s politburo, wrote on his Facebook page that the ceasefire talks are frozen due to the security situation in the Peninsula of Sinai, Xinhua reported.
On Aug 26, Egypt mediated a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas-led militant groups in Gaza. The deal was reached after a 50-day large-scale air and ground military operation waged by Israel against the Gaza Strip.
According to the agreement, the two sides should stop mutual attacks, and resume their talks on exchanging missing soldiers in Gaza with prisoners in Israel jails as well as on rebuilding Gaza seaport and airport.
Israel and the Palestinian factions, including Hamas, were scheduled to get back to the negotiation tables in Cairo last month. However, a deadly attack in Sinai, which killed 30 Egyptian soldiers, blocked the resumption of the talks.
“So far, there has been no progress on resuming the indirect talks due to the security situation in Sinai,” said Abu Marzooq, who called on Arab and international donors to speed up the reconstruction process in the Gaza Strip.
Meanwhile, Gaza health ministry spokesperson Ashraf al-Qedra told reporters that a Palestinian teenager was shot and injured by Israeli troops’ gunfire near the eastern borders of the Gaza Strip with Israel.
He said that another teenager was wounded in northeast Gaza Strip with Israel Friday evening, while early last week, a Palestinian, who was hunting birds, was shot dead in eastern Gaza by Israeli soldiers.