Indirect ceasefire talks with Israel has been postponed until the second half of November, the head of the Palestinian negotiations team said Sunday.
Azzam Al-Ahmad said the Egyptians, who sponsor the negotiations, postponed them due to the situation is northern Sinai and the closure of the Rafah crossing.
The negotiations were due to start on Monday to discuss preserving the truce which was reached on Aug. 26, ending 50 days of violence between Israel and armed groups in Gaza.
Earlier, Fawzi Barhoum, a spokesman of the Hamas movement, told that Egypt informed Hamas officials that the talks had been postponed.
"It's Egypt that will set a new date for indirect talks brokered by Egypt, and Hamas will be invited to that round of talks," Barhoum said.
The announcement comes in the wake of a deadly attack in the northern Sinai Peninsula in which a militant drove a car rigged with explosives into a military checkpoint, killing 30 Egyptian officers in addition to himself.
Egypt responded by imposing a curfew on North Sinai, closing the Rafah crossing with the Gaza Strip, and bombing suspected militant targets in the peninsula.
The Israeli assault on Gaza this summer killed more than 2,140 Palestinians, most of them civilians, and 73 on the Israeli side, mostly soldiers.
It ended on Aug. 26 with Israel pledging it would ease the crippling siege on Gaza, loosen restrictions on fishermen, and an agreement to hold future talks on other issues.
The siege on Gaza has been in place over the last seven years and has severely limited imports and exports, including building material.
Azzam Al-Ahmad said the Egyptians, who sponsor the negotiations, postponed them due to the situation is northern Sinai and the closure of the Rafah crossing.
The negotiations were due to start on Monday to discuss preserving the truce which was reached on Aug. 26, ending 50 days of violence between Israel and armed groups in Gaza.
Earlier, Fawzi Barhoum, a spokesman of the Hamas movement, told that Egypt informed Hamas officials that the talks had been postponed.
"It's Egypt that will set a new date for indirect talks brokered by Egypt, and Hamas will be invited to that round of talks," Barhoum said.
The announcement comes in the wake of a deadly attack in the northern Sinai Peninsula in which a militant drove a car rigged with explosives into a military checkpoint, killing 30 Egyptian officers in addition to himself.
Egypt responded by imposing a curfew on North Sinai, closing the Rafah crossing with the Gaza Strip, and bombing suspected militant targets in the peninsula.
The Israeli assault on Gaza this summer killed more than 2,140 Palestinians, most of them civilians, and 73 on the Israeli side, mostly soldiers.
It ended on Aug. 26 with Israel pledging it would ease the crippling siege on Gaza, loosen restrictions on fishermen, and an agreement to hold future talks on other issues.
The siege on Gaza has been in place over the last seven years and has severely limited imports and exports, including building material.
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