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Report: Hamas Official Confirms Indirect Talks With Israel

February 18, 2013 1:38 pm 0 comments

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Zach Pontz

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A truck stopped at the Rafah crossing, bordering Egypt and the Gaza Strip. Photo: wiki commons.

A Senior Hamas official confirmed Sunday that the terror organization is holding indirect talks with Israel over the implementation of a ceasefire deal, but insisted that they did not amount to political negotiations.

According to Ma’an News Agency, Khalil al-Hayya was commenting on a report on Israel’s Channel 2 TV on Friday, which said Israeli and Hamas representatives had been negotiating for weeks.

According to the Channel 2 report, the talks include the possibility of Israel permitting Egypt to open its Rafah border with Gaza to allow the entry of Qatari-donated construction materials, and trade with Israel.

Al-Hayya told Ma’an that the framework of the talks is based solely on the ceasefire deal which ended the eight-day conflict in November.

There are no contacts or meetings of a political nature, he said, reconfirming Hamas’s position of being unwilling to negotiate politically with Israel.

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