Hamas: We await new steps from the Doha negotiations after Israel's withdrawal from the agreement.

Hamas said it is awaiting new steps from the Doha negotiations, which began Tuesday evening, to move toward implementing the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement, which Israel has reneged on.

"We await further steps from the Doha negotiations to move toward implementing the second phase, resuming aid deliveries, and ensuring an end to the war," movement spokesman Abdul Latif al-Qanou added in a statement on Wednesday.

He continued, "The occupation has reneged on the ceasefire agreement, and this contradicts the international will and the efforts of all mediators to consolidate the agreement and end the war."

He pointed out that Hamas has shown "flexibility and dealt positively with various negotiating stages, and is determined to do so to compel the occupation to agree and fulfill our people's demands," according to the statement.

In turn, the movement's spokesman, Hazem Qassem, said in a statement that Hamas is dealing "responsibly and positively with the negotiations" that recently began.

He continued: "Including negotiations with the US envoy for hostage affairs (Adam Boehler)."

Last week, Boehler met with senior Hamas officials in the Qatari capital, Doha, without Israel's knowledge, to discuss the release of Israeli prisoners held in Gaza, including five Americans.

Tel Aviv estimates that there are 59 Israeli prisoners in the Gaza Strip, 24 of whom are still alive. Meanwhile, more than 9,500 Palestinians are languishing in its prisons, suffering torture, starvation, and medical neglect, many of whom have died, according to Palestinian and Israeli human rights and media reports.

Qassem expressed the movement's hope that this round of negotiations would yield "tangible progress" toward launching the second phase of the agreement, paving the way for "a halt to the aggression, the occupation's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, and the completion of a prisoner exchange deal," according to the statement.

On Tuesday evening, Hamas announced the start of a new round of ceasefire negotiations in Gaza, according to press statements given by movement leader Abdel Rahman Shadid and published by Hamas on its official digital platforms.

Shadid stated that the movement "began a new round of ceasefire negotiations today (Tuesday)," without providing further details.

On Monday, Tel Aviv sent its negotiating delegation to the Qatari capital, Doha, which is hosting indirect talks between Israel and Hamas. This follows prolonged procrastination by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has refused to move to the second phase of the Gaza agreement, which is supposed to lead to an end to the war of extermination.

On March 1, 2025, the first phase of a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement between Hamas and Israel concluded. The agreement, which began on January 19, was brokered by Qatar and Egypt and supported by the United States.

Netanyahu has shied away from initiating the second phase of the agreement, as he seeks to release more Israeli prisoners without fulfilling the commitments of this phase, particularly ending the war of extermination and fully withdrawing from Gaza.

Therefore, on March 8, Netanyahu claimed that Hamas was refusing to respond to a US proposal for a temporary ceasefire during Ramadan and the Jewish holiday of Passover. He justified this by using the internationally prohibited weapon of "starvation" by preventing the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza on March 2.

Anatolia