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."

Credit: Independent News Pakistan