DUBAI – Hamas stuck to its terms for a ceasefire deal and hostage exchange with Israel on March 6 after the United States said truce talks in Cairo were “in the hands” of the Palestinian militant group.

Negotiators from the Palestinian armed group, Qatar and Egypt are in Cairo trying to secure a 40-day ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas in time for the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which begins early next week.

Urging Hamas to accept the terms on the table, US President Joe Biden said on March 5 that US ally Israel was cooperating and “a rational offer” had been made for a ceasefire in exchange for the release of Israeli hostages.

“It’s in the hands of Hamas right now,” he told reporters. “If we get to the circumstance that it continues to Ramadan... it’s gonna be very dangerous.”

Hamas pledged to continue to take part in the Cairo talks, but Hamas officials said a ceasefire must be in place before hostages are released, Israel must withdraw from Gaza and all Gazans must be able to return to homes they were forced to flee.

“We are showing the required flexibility in order to reach a comprehensive cessation of aggression against our people, but the occupation is still evading the entitlements of this agreement,” Hamas said in a statement.

A source earlier said Israel was staying away from the Cairo talks because Hamas refused to provide a list of hostages who are still alive. Hamas says this is impossible without a ceasefire, as hostages are scattered across the war zone.

Israeli forces, aiming to eradicate Hamas following its deadly raid on Israel on Oct 7, have continued bombarding Gaza since the talks began in Cairo on March 3, and the dire humanitarian situation in the Palestinian enclave has deteriorated further.

“Every day costs us dozens of martyrs. We want a ceasefire now,” Mr Shaban Abdel-Raouf, a Palestinian electrician and father of five from Gaza City who is now in the southern city of Khan Younis, told Reuters via a chat app.

“Khan Younis is being burnt upside down, while America claims it wants to protect the civilians.

“Israel has been destroying houses and roads for months while we hear fake promises of an imminent ceasefire.”

Residents of Qatari-funded housing districts in Khan Younis reported explosions all night from the air and ground. Israeli warplanes also struck areas in Al-Nuseirat refugee camp and the city of Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza, and part of the southern city of Rafah, witnesses said.

Health officials in Gaza said Israel’s offensive had killed more than 30,700 people, with 86 deaths reported in the past 24 hours.

Palestinian health officials later said seven people had been killed when Israeli forces fired on groups in central Gaza.

Deal on the table

A deal is being sought before Ramadan because Palestinian-Israeli violence in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories often spikes during the fasting month, as does hostility towards Israel in the Arab and Muslim world, creating a strong incentive for leaders to clinch a deal before then.

The deal presented to Hamas would free some hostages it still holds following the Oct 7 attack, in which Israel said 1,200 people were killed and 253 abducted.

Aid to Gaza would be increased to try to avert famine as hospitals treat acutely malnourished children, and Hamas would provide a list of all the hostages held in Gaza.

In Beirut, Hamas official Osama Hamdan said any exchange of prisoners cannot take place until after a ceasefire.

Israel wants merely a pause in fighting to get hostages out of Gaza and more aid in, and says it will not end the conflict before Hamas is “eliminated”.

Senior Hamas official Bassem Naim said Hamas had presented its own draft deal and was awaiting a response from Israel, and that “the ball now is in the Americans’ court”.

The US on March 5 revised language in a draft United Nations Security Council resolution to back “an immediate ceasefire of roughly six weeks in Gaza together with the release of all hostages”.

The third revision of the text – first proposed by the US two weeks ago – now reflects blunt remarks by Vice-President Kamala Harris calling on Israel to do more to ease the “humanitarian catastrophe” in Gaza.

Echoing her comments, British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said he would warn visiting Israeli war Cabinet member Benny Gantz that London’s patience was running thin over the “dreadful suffering” in Gaza.

Mr Cameron, who is due to meet Mr Gantz on March 6, told Parliament late on March 5 that Israel’s handling of aid for Gaza, as the occupying power, raised questions over its compliance with international law.

He said that aid going to Gaza in February was around half the amount that was delivered in January.

Gaza health ministry spokesperson Ashraf Al-Qidra said on March 6 that a 15-year-old girl had died in a Gaza City hospital from dehydration and malnutrition, describing her as the 18th such victim in just over a week.

Israel has said it is committed to improving the humanitarian situation in Gaza and there is no limit on the aid for civilians. It has blamed the UN for any delivery issues, saying limitations on the quantity and pace of aid are dependent on the capacity of the UN and other agencies. REUTERS