ReutersHamas says any resumption of ceasefire talks on the Gaza conflict must be based on previous plans rather than holding new rounds of talks.
Last week, international mediators from Qatar, Egypt and the United States urged Israel and Hamas to attend talks on a ceasefire and hostage release deal by August 15.
Israel responded on Thursday, saying it would send a negotiating team to the meeting. Talks stalled last month after new terms were included in a framework presented by US President Joe Biden in May.
On Monday, the leaders of Britain, France and Germany made a joint call for talks to resume, saying “there can be no further delay”.
British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz all backed the mediators’ call to resume ceasefire talks in a joint statement.
“We agreed that there could be no further delay,” the statement said.
“We have been working with all parties to prevent escalation and will make every effort to reduce tensions and find a path towards stability.”
The countries also called for a reduction in tensions in the Middle East – which have increased since the assassination of senior members of Hamas and Hezbollah.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin confirmed Sunday night that he has ordered the deployment of a guided-missile submarine to the Middle East, which will join the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln en route to the region.
Iran previously said it would respond to the murder of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh at the “appropriate time” in the “appropriate way” and that the United States was responsible for his death because of its support for Israel.
In a statement on the ceasefire talks, Hamas responded to pressure from mediators by calling for a plan based on Mr Biden’s “vision” from May – essentially agreeing to resume talks from where they left off rather than any new initiatives.
“The mediators should enforce this on the occupying forces (Israel) instead of pursuing further rounds of negotiations or new proposals that would cover up the occupation forces’ aggression and give them more time to continue their genocide against our people,” Hamas said in a statement.
Sources told the BBC that Israel’s new conditions – that displaced Palestinians must be screened when they return to northern Gaza, as well as the issue of control of the Philadelphia corridor bordering Egypt – had become sticking points.
The BBC understands that Hamas is ready to resume talks at this stage, provided new conditions are put in place.
On Sunday, the Israeli army ordered thousands of Palestinians in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, to move to what it designated as “humanitarian areas”.
The evacuation order comes after an Israeli airstrike on a school building in Gaza on Saturday that killed more than 70 people, according to the local hospital director.
Fadl Naeem, director of al-Ahli Hospital, which received many of the casualties, said about 70 victims had been identified in the hours after the airstrike – and the bodies of many others were so badly disfigured that they were difficult to identify.
An Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman said the school “used to be a military base for Hamas and Islamic Jihad,” which Hamas denies.
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said “various intelligence indicators” showed a “high probability” that the commander of Islamic Jihad’s Central Camp Brigade, Ashraf Juda, was at al-Taba’een school when it was attacked.
He said it was not yet clear whether the commander was killed in the attack.
The BBC has been unable to independently verify casualty figures from either side.
Israel claims that Hamas is using civilian infrastructure to plan and carry out attacks, and that is why they target hospitals and schools – sites protected under international law.
Hamas has consistently denied these allegations.
Hamas-led gunmen killed some 1,200 people in an attack on Israel on October 7, taking 251 others back to Gaza as hostages.
That attack sparked a major Israeli military offensive on Gaza and the current war.
According to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, more than 39,790 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli campaign.
