Wednesday Briefing: Hamas Will Skip Upcoming Talks

International mediators are heading to the Middle East for a high-stakes round of cease-fire negotiations scheduled for tomorrow. But Hamas will not take part in the talks because its leaders do not think Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has been negotiating in good faith, an official for the group said.

“Netanyahu is not interested in reaching an agreement that ends the aggression completely,” said Ahmad Abdul Hadi, who accused Netanyahu of wanting to prolong and even expand the war. Hamas’s decision did not appear to bode well for a breakthrough, but it did not mean the group had completely left the bargaining table.

Netanyahu rejected accusations that he is stonewalling and has consistently blamed the deadlock on Hamas. He said Israel will send delegates to the talks anyway. But Netanyahu has been less flexible in recent discussions, according to documents reviewed by The New York Times. In July, he privately added new, less flexible conditions to Israel’s cease-fire demands than those put forth in May. His own negotiators fear these stipulations created extra obstacles to a deal.

Our Kyiv bureau chief, Andrew Kramer, and photographer David Guttenfelder visited a border crossing point in the Kursk region of Russia, one of the areas that Ukrainian forces invaded last week. The offensive is now heading into a second week, a remarkable turn in the war.