War in Middle East: Hamas breaks off talks for now after deadly airstrikes

Scores of people have been killed after Israeli airstrikes in the southern Gaza Strip Hamas to die Stop negotiating a ceasefire for the time being. Politburo chief Ismail Haniyeh has already announced the decision to international mediators, a senior Hamas official said. The prospect of any more hostages being released by Hamas is now fading.

According to Hamas, the reason for the move was the “slaughter of unarmed civilians” and “lack of seriousness”. of Israel. Salil al-Hajjah, the Islamic organization’s vice president, told Qatari television station Al Jazeera that all options were being explored as a result of the attack. In addition, both al-Hajjah and Haniya insisted that Gaza’s military chief, Mohamed Taif, was not killed in the Israeli strike and is doing well.

The Israeli military said the attack in al-Mawasi humanitarian zone west of Khan Yunis targeted, among others, Daif, the head of the Qassam Brigades. According to Hamas-led officials, those killed in the attack were: Gaza At least 90 people died and at least 300 were injured. According to Hamas, they are exclusively civilians. The information provided by either party cannot be independently verified.

The Israeli military investigated the attack

The Israeli military said it was still investigating whether Daif and Rafa Salama, the commander of Hamas’s Khan Younis Brigade, were killed in the airstrike. “There is no absolute certainty yet,” Netanyahu said in Tel Aviv. Hamas operatives are said to have masterminded the October 7 attack in Israel. The massacre nine months earlier was the trigger for the Gaza war. At least 90 people have been killed in recent Israeli airstrikes, according to Palestinian sources.

At least 300 people were injured in al-Mawasi humanitarian zone, according to the Hamas-controlled health authority. “The attack took place in a fenced area controlled by Hamas, and according to our information, there were only Hamas terrorists and no civilians,” the Israeli military said. “It was a precision attack.” Most of the dead are suspected to be terrorists.

Netanyahu: Target the entire Hamas leadership

A representative Military He acknowledged that the object was struck in an Israeli-declared humanitarian zone west of the city of Khan Yunis in southern Gaza. “But it is a fenced, protected Hamas base occupied by terrorists,” the military representative added. The military is also very confident that there were no Israeli hostages there at the time of the attack. Netanyahu told a press conference that Israel would eliminate the entire Hamas leadership.

Israel’s head of government also refers to Jihija al-Sinwar, the leader of Hamas in Gaza. Taif is considered his number two. Ismail Haniyeh, the foreign leader of Hamas, accused Netanyahu of using “brutal massacres” to prevent a ceasefire in the war. He called on Egypt, Qatar and the United States, mediating the indirect talks, to end Israel’s military action in the Gaza Strip.

All options are open, but Hamas “will not give Netanyahu what he wants or the opportunity to blame them for the failure of negotiations,” Al-Hajja was quoted as saying by Arabic television Al-Jazeera.

What will happen to the hostages?

Daniel Barnia, head of Israel’s foreign secret service Mossad, plans to travel to the Qatari capital Doha for another round of talks in the next few days, Israeli radio station Khan reported. The Israeli newspaper writes that plans for secret talks have not been thwarted by Israel’s latest attempt to kill the Hamas military chief. Haaretz.

In Israel, thousands protested again for a deal to bring home some 120 hostages still held by Hamas. Participants in the rallies in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem accused Prime Minister Netanyahu of sabotaging the secret talks. “We demand that they stop sabotaging the agreement, we demand that the agreement be signed,” the mother of one of the hostages was quoted as saying by Israeli media.