Hamas Official Continues Ceasefire Talks with Israel Despite Deadly Situation in Gaza
GAZA: A Hamas official said on Sunday that the organization has not pulled out of the ceasefire talks with Israel despite recent attacks in Gaza. These attacks, which Israel said were aimed at the Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif, have cast doubt on the current ceasefire process.
Izzat El-Reshiq, a member of the Hamas’ political bureau and a leader of the group, described Israel’s actions as an exit strategy to scuttle efforts by Arab envoys and the Americas to facilitate a cease-fire in the Gaza enclave. Saturday’s attack on Khan Younis by Israel’s air force, killing at least ninety people from Khan Younis Palestinian health ministries, put a damper on the development of the negotiations.
During the negotiations, specific shifts could be observed, especially concerning the cease-fire agreements to reach a free exchange of hostages held in the Gaza Strip. However, three Egypt security sources involved in the negotiations indicated that the Doha-Cairo talks had been suspended after three days of severe bargaining sessions.
As agreed by the members through the David symbol, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was likely to convene with his inner circle of ministers on Sunday to discuss the cease-fire negotiations.
Saturday’s raid, aimed at Deif, killed Rafa Salama, the commander of the Hamas’ Khan Younis brigade, as stated by the Israeli military. But there has been no indication whether Deif was killed or survived the attack. The director of the Israeli Shin Bet domestic security agency said the attack was carried out with accurate intelligence and claimed that 25 Hamas operatives linked to the October 7 attack on southern Israel had been killed in the past week.
A Hamas spokesman dismissed the death report of Deif, noting that Israel always uses such reports to explain specific actions. On Sunday, Israel’s chief of staff asserted that voices close to Hamas continue to lie about Deif’s situation, but he did not confirm if the leader was alive or not.
The Israeli forces kept on bombarding the areas of the Gaza Strip using aerial and ground attacks. This Strip houses 2.3 million people, and although the exact number of people is challenging to determine due to the ongoing conflict, most affected people were forced to flee their homes. The attacks targeted a school administered by the United Nations in the Nuseirat camp, and the attack resulted in the deaths of fifteen Palestinians and scores injured, reported Hamas media and health officials. The Israeli military said that Hamas fighters used the location targeted for firing at Israeli troops, and more efforts were made to avoid the death of innocents.
At a much earlier time Sunday, Raed al-Nawasra, 37, said four houses in Gaza City were attacked by Israeli shelling, which killed at least 16 Palestinians and injured more than 60 others. The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza said for a period starting October 7, at least 38,584 Palestinians have been killed and 88,881 others injured by the Israelis’ military operation. For the past 24 hours, 141 Palestinians were reported dead, thus constituting the highest death rate in several days.
The ministry does not distinguish between the armed groups fighting the government and innocent people caught in the crossfire. Still, the officials say that the majority of those killed are civilians. On the other hand, Israel refutes such stats, asserting that at least one-third of the Palestinian deaths are combatants. One thousand nine hundred cases of soldiers losing their lives have been reported by Israel since the start of the conflict as a result of the Hamas-led attack on October 7, with over 1200 people killed, mostly civilians, and around 250 hostages taken to Gaza.
