'Ball is completely' in Israel's hands in Gaza truce talks, says Hamas

Palestinian militant group Hamas said early Friday that its delegation attending Gaza ceasefire negotiations in Cairo had left the city for Qatar, adding the "ball is now completely" in Israel's hands.

"The negotiating delegation left Cairo heading to Doha. In practice, the occupation (Israel) rejected the proposal submitted by the mediators and raised objections to it on several central issues," the group said in a message to other Palestinian factions, adding it stood by the proposal.

"Accordingly, the ball is now completely in the hands of the occupation."

State-linked Egyptian outlet Al-Qahera News reported Thursday that representatives of both camps left Cairo after two days of negotiations aimed at finalising a ceasefire deal in the seven-month war in the Gaza Strip.

Efforts by Egypt and other mediators, namely Qatar and the United States, "continue to bring the points of view of the two parties closer together", the outlet added, citing a high-level Egyptian source.

Hamas said Monday that it had accepted a ceasefire proposal put forward by mediators.

The deal, the group said, involved a withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, the return of Palestinians displaced by the war, and the exchange of hostages held by militants for Palestinian prisoners detained in Israel, with the aim of a "permanent ceasefire".

Netanyahu's office at the time called the proposal "far from Israel's essential demands", but said the government would still send negotiators to Cairo.

Israel has long been resistant to the idea of a permanent ceasefire, insisting it must finish the job of dismantling Hamas.

Arson by Israeli extremists

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees said Thursday it was temporarily shuttering its east Jerusalem headquarters after "Israeli extremists" set fire to the perimeter following weeks of repeated attacks.

"This evening, Israeli residents set fire twice to the perimeter of the UNRWA headquarters in occupied east Jerusalem," agency chief Philippe Lazzarini said on X, formerly Twitter, lamenting that it was the second attack on the compound in a matter of days.

He described how "a crowd accompanied by armed men were witnessed outside the compound chanting 'Burn down the United Nations'."

UNRWA and staff from other UN agencies at the time were on the compound, which has on its grounds petrol and diesel stations for a fleet of UN cars.

"While there were no casualties among our staff, the fire caused extensive damage to the outdoor areas," Lazzarini said, adding that UNRWA staff had put out the fire themselves.

The attack came after two months of "Israeli extremists staging protests outside the UNRWA compound", he said, adding that one protest earlier this week "became violent when demonstrators threw stones at UN staff and at the buildings of the compound".

Thursday's arson attempts marked "an outrageous development", Lazzarini said. "Once again, the lives of UN staff were at a serious risk".

"In light of this second appalling incident in less than a week, I have taken the decision to close down our compound until proper security is restored."

The UNRWA chief lamented that "over the past months, UN staff have regularly been subjected to harassment and intimidation".

"Our compound has been seriously vandalised and damaged. On several occasions, Israeli extremists threatened our staff with guns."

- 'Israeli targeting of UNRWA' -

The Palestinian Authority condemned the arson attack and urged the international community to take "strict measures" against Israeli "militias".

Jordan also decried the attack, calling for measures to force Israel to "assume its responsibility as the occupying power in Jerusalem" and put an end to the harassment, according to the official news agency Petra.

Qatar's foreign ministry slammed the "systematic Israeli targeting of UNRWA", maintaining it aimed "to liquidate it and deprive millions of Palestinians of its necessary services".

Saudi Arabia also condemned the attack.

UNRWA, which coordinates nearly all aid to Gaza, has been in crisis since January, when Israel accused about a dozen of its 13,000 Gaza employees of being involved in the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel.

This led many donor nations, including its top donor the United States, to abruptly suspend funding to the agency, threatening its efforts to deliver desperately needed aid in Gaza, although several have since resumed payments.

An independent review group of UNRWA, led by French former foreign minister Catherine Colonna, found some "neutrality-related issues" but said Israel had yet to provide evidence for its chief allegations.

Created in 1949, the agency employs around 30,000 people in the Palestinian territories, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.