Hamas demands Biden truce plan implemented as Gazans flee Israeli advance

Hamas on Sunday urged Gaza mediators to implement a truce plan presented by U.S. President Joe Biden instead of holding more talks, as Palestinians fled a new Israeli military operation.

The statement from the Palestinian group, whose Oct. 7 attack on Israel triggered the war, came a day after one of the deadliest reported Israeli strikes on the besieged Gaza Strip in more than 10 months of war.

International mediators had invited Israel and Hamas to resume talks towards a long-sought truce and hostage-release deal, after the fighting in Gaza and the killings of Iran-aligned militant leaders sparked fears of a wider conflict.

Israel, whose Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been accused of prolonging the war for political gain, has accepted the invitation from the United States, Qatar and Egypt for a round of talks planned for Thursday.

Hamas said Sunday it wanted the implementation of a truce plan laid out by Biden on May 31 and later endorsed by the U.N. Security Council, "rather than going through more negotiation rounds or new proposals".

Hamas "demands that the mediators present a plan to implement what they proposed to the movement... based on Biden's vision and the U.N. Security Council resolution, and compel the (Israeli) occupation to comply", it said.

Unveiling the plan, Biden had called it a three-phase "roadmap to an enduring ceasefire and the release of all hostages", and said it was an Israeli proposal. Mediation efforts since then have failed to produce an agreement.

Hamas on Tuesday named its Gaza chief Yahya Sinwar to succeed slain political leader and truce negotiator Ismail Haniyeh, killed July 31 in Tehran in an attack blamed on Israel, which has not claimed responsibility.

Haniyeh's...