ANKARA (Dispatches) – The Turkish 
intelligence chief has met with a Hamas delegation to discuss the steps to be taken for a ceasefire and the delivery of aid in Gaza, security sources said, Anadolu reports.
According to the sources, National Intelligence Organization head Ibrahim Kalin met the delegation, led by Muhammad Darwish, the head of the leadership council of the Palestinian resistance group Hamas.
The humanitarian tragedy in Gaza was the first item of discussion during the meeting, they added.
The meeting also addressed Turkey’s efforts with the international community to end the humanitarian tragedy and destruction in Gaza and ensure the immediate passage of aid.
Reaching a consensus between Palestinian groups during this critical period was also discussed.
During the meeting, Kalin emphasized that Turkey stands by the Palestinian people.
A senior Hamas official said on Sunday, ceasefire talks with the Zionist regime remain at a standstill due to the occupation’s insistence on continuing its war on Gaza.
Mahmoud Mardawi, a leading member of Hamas, stated that the Zionist regime’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, continues to reject any halt to a “criminal war” targeting innocent civilians in Gaza.
He stressed that ending the aggression and allowing humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip are two non-negotiable conditions.
Mardawi added that the Zionist regime is trying to impose conditions that undermine the sovereignty of the Palestinian people and the resistance’s weapons – conditions which Hamas firmly rejects.
He clarified that the resistance’s arms are directly linked to ending the occupation and are not open for negotiation.
Mardawi concluded by reaffirming Hamas’s national stance, which prioritizes the protection of the Palestinian people, ending the war, and opening safe corridors for the delivery of humanitarian assistance.