A senior Hamas representative says that a demand for the next step in the negotiations is that Israel completely ceases "violations" of the ceasefire in Gaza.
"Our people expect the talks to lead to an end to Israel's lawless actions, to an end to the violations (against the ceasefire)," Hamas leader Bassem Naim said in an interview with AFP.
Naim says that Israel's occupation must end and that Israel must abide by the agreement in Sharm el-Sheikh in order for new negotiations to be held.
The United States is hosting the next phase of negotiations in Florida, led by US envoy Steve Witkoff along with representatives of the mediators Qatar, Egypt and Turkey. Ahead of the meeting, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that Hamas must be completely disarmed if peace is to be achieved.
"If Hamas is capable in the future of threatening or attacking Israel, then peace will not be possible," Rubio told reporters in Washington, DC on Friday.
Israel has consistently demanded that Hamas lay down all weapons in order for phase two of a settlement to be possible.
But in a comment earlier this week, the head of the Hamas movement in Gaza, Khalil al-Hayya, said that the Islamist movement has a "legitimate right" to be armed.
