The Palestinian Authority has also opposed Adam Boehler, Trump’s special hostage envoy, whose direct talks with Hamas have strained US-Israel relations. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the meeting with Hamas but said it was a failed attempt and that the main negotiations were continuing in Qatar.<\/p>\n
Disagreements persist between the parties in the negotiations aimed at permanently ending the conflicts in exchange for the release of Israeli hostages. Under the temporary ceasefire in January, 33 Israeli hostages (dead and alive) were released, and in return, hundreds of Palestinian prisoners were freed. However, the most challenging parts of this agreement were left for later stages. Hamas wants to continue negotiations for a permanent ceasefire, but Israel refuses to put this issue on the table. In contrast, the possibility of a temporary compromise is being considered.<\/p>\n
After the parties failed to agree and the ceasefire was jeopardized, Boehler, opening a separate channel, met directly with Hamas officials for the first time. Boehler, criticized by Israel after the talks were leaked to the press, said his aim was to secure the release of the last surviving American hostage in Gaza. However, Boehler also angered Israeli officials, who were already worried about not being informed of the talks, by saying that Hamas, whom he called “good guys,” was ready to lay down arms in exchange for a ceasefire and that the US had separate interests from Israel. Boehler then stated, “We are the US, not Israel’s agent.”<\/p>\n
Secretary of State Rubio tried to alleviate Israel’s concerns by saying of Boehler’s talks with Hamas, “It doesn’t mean he was wrong to try. But our primary focus is the process in Qatar.”<\/p>\n
While Israel criticized the US, the Palestinian Authority also announced its displeasure with Hamas’s meeting with the US side. Hamas stated that the Palestinian Authority should have ended its security coordination with Israel before making these criticisms.<\/p>\n
According to the Palestinian official news agency WAFA<\/em>, Palestinian Presidency Spokesperson Nabil Abu Rudeineh argued that Hamas’s “establishing contact and negotiating with foreign parties fragments the Palestinian national stance.” Abu Rudeineh claimed that Hamas’s “communicating with foreign parties without national authorization is against Palestinian law.”<\/p>\n Pointing out that Hamas held the talks in question before the Arab League Summit held on March 4 in Cairo, the capital of Egypt, Abu Rudeineh argued that this situation was an attempt to weaken the Arab stance supporting the Palestinian cause. Abu Rudeineh called on Hamas to leave the administration of Gaza to the Palestinian Authority.<\/p>\n Speaking to Al Jazeera<\/em> television about Ramallah’s statement, Abdulhakim Hanini, one of the Hamas leaders, said that the Palestinian Authority’s statement was “unacceptable.”<\/p>\n Hanini said, “The Palestinian Authority’s statement about Hamas communicating with foreign parties is unacceptable. The Palestinian Authority needs to end its security coordination with the occupying Israel before accusing us of espionage.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Palestinian Authority has also opposed Adam Boehler, Trump’s special hostage envoy, whose direct talks with Hamas have strained US-Israel relations. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the meeting with Hamas but said it was a failed attempt and that the main negotiations were continuing in Qatar. Disagreements persist between the parties in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8342,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[7858,7584,815,7860,587,1211,7854,1334,294,503,6292,3583,7857,2061,7855,7859,7856,763,5541],"class_list":["post-8341","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middleeast","tag-abdulhakim-hanini","tag-adam-boehler","tag-al-jazeera","tag-arab-league-summit","tag-cairo","tag-ceasefire","tag-direct-negotiations","tag-gaza","tag-hamas","tag-headline","tag-israeli-hostages","tag-marco-rubio","tag-nabil-abu-rudeineh","tag-palestinian-authority","tag-qatar-negotiations","tag-security-coordination","tag-temporary-ceasefire","tag-us-israel-relations","tag-wafa"],"yoast_head":"\n