PALESTINIAN MILITANT GROUP Hamas has called on US, Qatari and Egyptian mediators to implement a ceasefire plan put forward by US President Joe Biden, instead of holding “more talks”.

“Hamas calls on the mediators to present a roadmap to put into action what was proposed to Hamas… based on the vision of Biden and the decisions of the UN Security Council, and to force the occupier to implement it, rather than hold more talks or bring new proposals,” Hamas said in a statement.

Mediators have invited both Israel and Hamas for a round of negotiations on Thursday.

The statement comes after Israel assassinated Hamas’ political leader Ismail Haniyeh while he was visiting the Iranian capital of Tehran at the end of July. 

Haniyeh’s replacement, Yahya Sinwar, is widely seen as more hardline than his predecessor. 

Biden publicly announced his multi-phase plan to end the war in June that he said Israel had accepted.

But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu never publicly endorsed the deal, instead repeating his stated war aim of completely destroying Hamas, something his own military spokesperson has described as impossible. 

The three-stage ceasefire settlement was later adopted as a resolution by the United Nations Security Council. Security Council resolutions are, according to international law, binding.

The ceasefire vote passed with 14 states in favour and one, Russia, abstaining. A single vote from Russia or any of the four other permanent members would have vetoed the agreement, as has been the case when the US exercised its veto power at various times throughout the conflict.   

No halt to hostilities has materialised in the two months since the vote. 

As well as bringing the fighting to a stop, the June deal would have ensured the exchange of captives held in Israeli and Hamas custody. Bringing home the hostages has been the main source of domestic political pressure on the Netanyahu government throughout the war, especially in recent months. 

Today Israel issued more evacuation orders to civilians sheltering in the Gazan city of Khan Younis, forcing people to flee another Israeli assault. 

Israel’s siege, bombardment and invasion of Gaza has killed at least 39,790 people, according to the territory’s health ministry. 

With reporting from AFP