Hamas announced on Sunday that it was withdrawing from talks on a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, where the Israeli army bombed displaced people’s settlements, the fifth in eight days, killing at least 15 people, according to the Palestinian Authority.
According to Israel, Hamas’ decision to walk away from the negotiating table came a day after an Israeli attack targeted the Palestinian Islamist movement’s military leader, Mohamed Tayeb, and killed one of his close associates.
A Hamas official said Mohammed Taif was alive and doing “well” and was “directly monitoring the proceedings”.
Another Hamas official told AFP about the movement’s decision to withdraw from indirect talks on a ceasefire with Israel through mediators Qatar, Egypt and the United States, condemning Israeli “massacres” against “unarmed civilians”.
Photo by Ayad Baba, Agence France-Presse
Palestinians view the damage caused by an Israeli bombardment of the UNRWA-run Abu Araban school, which has been converted into a shelter for displaced Palestinians in the Nusirat refugee camp.
Hamas is “ready to resume negotiations” as Israel seeks to finalize a cease-fire deal linked to the exchange of Palestinian prisoners for hostages in Gaza after a Hamas attack on Israel on October 7.
On Sunday, the Israeli military once again attacked the UN for Palestinian refugees. The agency bombed Anrwa’s school, which it said had “attacked terrorists,” and sheltered displaced people in the Nusirat camp in the center of the Gaza Strip.
According to him, the building was “a hideout” and a base for “attacks” against Israeli troops.
“The blast hit the Abo Arabaneh school building, home to thousands of displaced people, killing 15 people”, mainly women and children, civil defense spokesman Mahmoud Bassal announced.
Witnesses reported suffering when an AFP reporter saw a devastated building and groups of survivors strewn with debris in a courtyard.
Photo Archive Agence France-Presse
Hamas military chief Mohammed Taif
Earlier in the day, according to Hamas, Israeli strikes killed 92 Palestinians in al-Mawasi displaced persons camp near Khan Yunis in the south of the region.
Israel indicated that it targeted Mohammed Taif and Hamas commander Rafa Salama in the Khan Younes faction, who were presented as “the two masterminds of the October 7 massacre”.
Rafa Salama was killed in the strike, the military announced on Sunday, portraying him as “one of Mohammed Taif’s closest associates”.
It was Mohammed Taif who announced the start of the “Al-Aqsa Flood” operation against Israel on the morning of October 7 in an audio recording broadcast by Hamas. Before Saturday’s strike, he had survived at least six takedown attempts.
“Endless Carnage”
Israel’s attacks on schools in the Gaza Strip have drawn international criticism. France and Germany have called for an investigation.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s government on Sunday called for no silence in the face of “endless carnage”.
Photo by Bashar Taleb, Agence France-Presse
A view of the Al-Mawasi displaced persons camp
The war was sparked by an unprecedented attack by Hamas in southern Israel on October 7, which left 1,195 dead, the majority civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli data.
Of the 251 abducted, 116 are still being held in Gaza, and 42 of them have died, the military said.
In response, Israel vowed to destroy Hamas, which has been in power in the Gaza Strip since 2007, and according to Defense Ministry data from the Hamas-led Gaza government, 38,584 people have been killed so far.
The ministry announced on Sunday that at least 141 people had been killed in 24 hours, one of the highest numbers in weeks.
An UNRWA official said he had seen “some of the most horrific scenes” since the war began at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.
“I saw twins, babies paralyzed and unable to get treatment,” recounted Scott Anderson, UNRWA’s deputy humanitarian coordinator and director of affairs in Gaza.
AFP images in Al-Mawasi showed burnt tents, blankets and pieces of foam mattresses scattered around.
Hamas condemned a “terrible massacre” in the area, which was declared a “humanitarian zone” by Israel months ago, where displaced civilians were invited to reintegrate.
The military maintained that “the strike was carried out in a fenced area controlled by Hamas” and that “most of the victims were terrorists”.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the move sent a “message of deterrence” to Israel’s enemies and helped weaken Hamas.
Meanwhile, the army continues its operations in the Rafah area in the south and Gaza City in the north, where it said it “killed several terrorists during close combat”. Two people were killed in an explosion in Tal al-Hawa district, Civil Defense said.
A heavy blow to the negotiations
The withdrawal by Hamas is a blow to efforts by mediators to secure a ceasefire in the besieged territory after months of fruitless negotiations.
The diplomatic marathon resumed after an offer by Hamas to negotiate the release of the hostages in the absence of a permanent cease-fire with Israel.
On Saturday, Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, Mr. Netanyahu accused him of trying to prevent a ceasefire with “brutal massacres”.
The prime minister has always said he wants to continue the war until Hamas, which is classified as a terrorist organization by Israel, the US and the EU, is destroyed and all hostages are freed.
