Hamas chief calls for march on al-Aqsa as hostage talks struggle

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A senior Hamas leader has called on Palestinians to mark the start of Ramadan next month with a march to the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem as negotiators struggle to secure a deal to halt the war in Gaza.

The US, Qatar and Egypt have for weeks been trying to broker an agreement between Hamas and Israel to pause the conflict before the Muslim holy month begins to secure the release of Israeli hostages and deliver more aid into the besieged strip.

Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas’s political leader, said the Palestinian militant group was showing “flexibility”, but it was ready to continue fighting.

Israeli officials and people briefed on the talks said that despite US President Joe Biden suggesting this week that a deal was close, big differences over an agreement remained.

“The gaps are too big, there’s a conceptual misunderstanding between the two sides about what’s more important — a ceasefire or the hostages,” said a person with knowledge of the talks.

Haniyeh’s call for the march on al-Aqsa, which is Islam’s third holiest site, at the start of Ramadan — which is expected to begin on March 10 — will also be considered by Israel as inflammatory.

Tensions between Israel and Palestinians often soar during the holy month, particularly around al-Aqsa, which sits in a compound known to Muslims as Haram al-Sharif. The compound, known to Jews as the Temple Mount and the holiest site in Judaism, is a constant flashpoint in the protracted Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The US and other mediators have been desperate to secure a hostage deal to pause the war in Gaza before Ramadan, fearing that the holy month could prompt a…