US mediates with Turkey to invite Hamas to peace talks on Thursday

Tel Aviv: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has met with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan to encourage Hamas to engage in negotiations. At the US's urging, indirect peace negotiations between Israel and Hamas are scheduled for this Thursday in Doha, Qatar. Along with US delegates, Qatar and Egypt will participate in the negotiations.

Sources in Israel's Defence Ministry told IANS that Blinken made the call early Tuesday morning and informed the Turkish government of the importance of peace talks taking place.

It is to be noted that Turkey has an excellent rapport with the Hamas leadership and many of the senior leaders of the militant movement reside in Turkey.

After the murder of Hamas Political Bureau Head Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on July 31, the situation in the Middle East has become more tense, with certainty of an attack on Israel looming large, the US has taken the initiative for an indirect peace talks.

However, Hamas has on Sunday cast their apprehensions in attending the talks and informed the mediators to present a plan based on the previous negotiations instead of entering into a new round of talks.

Meanwhile, the US State Department Deputy Spokesperson, Vedant Patel told media persons on Monday that the US fully expects the talks to continue and was expecting a probable solution to the matter.

He also said that the US fully expect the talks to move ahead and that all the negotiating parties are back at the table to bring the deal to a conclusion.

The Deputy Spokesperson, however, did not elaborate on whether the talks would move forward without the participation of Hamas.

With inputs from IANS