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Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, August 15th. The US media released an exclusive interview with a senior official of the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) on the 14th. The content of the interview showed that Hamas has lost confidence in the US's ability to mediate in the ceasefire negotiations in the Gaza Strip in Palestine.

Osama Hamdan, a member of the Hamas Political Bureau, said in an exclusive interview with the Associated Press on the 13th that Hamas does not believe that the United States can or will put pressure on Israel to force Israel to reach a ceasefire agreement with Hamas. Hamas has repeatedly accepted all or most of the ceasefire proposals put forward by the negotiating mediator, only for Israel to reject or ignore the ceasefire proposals or continue to increase its offensive against the Gaza Strip.

On August 13, people carried the bodies of the victims of the Israeli attack at Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, a southern city in the Gaza Strip. Xinhua News Agency (Photo by Khalid Omar)

Hamdan said that during a negotiation, William Burns, director of the US Central Intelligence Agency, told Hamas through other mediators that Israel would accept the ceasefire plan. The day after Hamas agreed to the plan, Israel launched a new offensive against the southern Gaza city of Rafah and claimed that the content of the plan was far from what Israel wanted.

Hamdan also showed the ceasefire plans of multiple rounds of negotiations and Hamas's written response. A Middle Eastern official familiar with the ceasefire negotiation process confirmed that these documents are authentic. The documents show that Hamas has repeatedly requested that the United Nations, Russia and other parties serve as guarantors for the implementation of the ceasefire agreement, but Israel has rejected them.

He accused the Israeli government of delaying the conclusion of a ceasefire agreement by not giving negotiators the power to make decisions, frequently changing negotiators, and adding new content to the ceasefire plan.

On August 12, in Gaza City, northern Gaza Strip, people held a funeral for the victims of the Israeli attack. Xinhua News Agency (Photo by Mahmoud Zaki)

"The Americans cannot convince the Israelis. I don't think the United States is putting pressure on Israel," Hamdan said.

As Israel's most important ally, the United States has long been "taking sides" on the Palestinian-Israeli issue and has continued to provide political and military support to Israel since the current round of Palestinian-Israeli conflict broke out on October 7 last year. On the 13th of this month, the United States added a new round of arms sales to Israel worth about $20 billion, including a large number of fighter jets, air-to-air missiles and other advanced equipment.

After the outbreak of the current round of Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Israel and Hamas briefly ceased fire in November last year. They have held several rounds of negotiations on a new ceasefire and the release of detained persons, but have not made any breakthroughs so far. A new round of ceasefire negotiations is scheduled to be held on the 15th of this month. However, Hamas issued a statement on the 11th, asking the mediator to formulate an implementation plan for the previous negotiation results and force Israel to implement them, rather than holding more negotiations or proposing new plans.

This is the ruins of a building photographed in the northwest of Khan Yunis, a city in the southern Gaza Strip, on August 11. Xinhua News Agency (Photo by Rizek Abduljawad)

The Israeli Prime Minister's Office issued a statement on the 13th, saying that Israel's adjustment to the ceasefire plan was only to "clarify" the details, and at the same time accused Hamas of repeatedly revising the ceasefire plan.

According to the Associated Press, the current deadlock in the ceasefire negotiations is whether and how a temporary ceasefire can become a permanent one. In addition, Hamas strongly opposes Israel's demand to control two strategic locations, including the "Philadelphia Corridor" bordering the Gaza Strip and Egypt, after the ceasefire.

Hamdan said that the Palestinians have suffered tremendously in this round of Israeli-Palestinian conflict and are eager for a ceasefire, but Hamas will not give up its demands easily because "a ceasefire is not the same as surrender." (Wang Yijun)