Mourners carry the bodies of relatives killed during Israeli bombardment which hit a makeshift prayer hall at al-Shati refugee camp west of Gaza City. AFP
Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh told international mediators Qatar and Egypt of the end of the talks on a ceasefire plan first outlined by US President Joe Biden in May, according to the senior official.
Haniyeh said Hamas would "halt negotiations due to the occupation's (Israel) lack of seriousness, continued policy of procrastination and obstruction, and the ongoing massacres against unarmed civilians," according to the official.
"Hamas has shown great flexibility to reach an agreement and end the aggression and is ready to resume negotiations when the occupation government demonstrates seriousness in reaching a ceasefire agreement and a prisoner exchange deal."
Haniyeh said in a statement late Saturday that he had called the mediators and other countries to urge them to put pressure on Israel to halt the attacks.
"Commander Mohammed Deif is well and directly overseeing Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades and resistance operations," the official said, referring to Hamas's armed wing.
Israel claimed it targeted Hamas’ military commander in a strike Saturday on the crowded southern Gaza Strip, including a "safe zone" that killed at least 90 Palestinians including children.
Hamas rejected the claim that Deif was in the area, saying “These false claims are merely a cover-up for the scale of the horrific massacre.”
The strike took place in an area Israel's occupation army had designated as safe for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians.
Saturday's attack was one of Israel's deadliest attacks with 90 dead and at least 300 others injured. Associated Press journalists counted over 40 bodies at the overwhelmed Nasser Hospital nearby. Witnesses described an attack that included several strikes.
“A number of victims are still under the rubble and on the roads, and ambulance and civil defence crews are unable to reach them," the Health Ministry said.
Witnesses said the strike landed in Muwasi, the Israeli-designated safe zone that stretches from northern Rafah to Khan Younis. Palestinians have fled to the coastal strip, sheltering mostly in tents with few basic services or supplies. More than 80% of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have been driven from their homes.
Footage of the aftermath showed a huge crater, charred tents and burnt-out cars. Victims were carried on the hoods and in the hatchbacks of cars, on donkey carts and on carpets.
At the hospital, a baby in a pink shirt, her face covered with sand, cried while receiving first aid. A small boy lay motionless at the other end of the bed, one shoe gone. Many wounded by the Israeli strike were treated on the floor.
There was “the overwhelming stench of blood,” said Louise Wateridge, a spokesperson with the UN agency for Palestinian refugees who visited the hospital and spoke with several patients. Staff said there were no cleaning products left.
The blast threw a 2-year-old child into the air and the mother was missing, Wateridge said. Another boy had his feet blown off, while an 8-year-old boy was killed. “They told me to go there to be safe,” his grieving mother told her of the area struck.
Neighbouring Egypt, a mediator in cease-fire talks, condemned the strike. “These ongoing violations against Palestinian citizens add serious complications to the ability of the efforts currently being made to reach calm and a cease-fire,” its Foreign Ministry said in a statement. It also criticized the “shameful silence and lack of action from the international community.”
Egyptian, Qatari and US mediators have been pushing to narrow gaps between Israel and Hamas over a proposed deal for a three-phase cease-fire and captive release plan in Gaza.
The US-backed proposal calls for an initial cease-fire with a limited captive release and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza's populated areas. At the same time, the two sides will negotiate terms of the second phase, which is supposed to bring a full captive release in return for a permanent cease-fire and complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
Netanyahu said he wasn't moving from the US-backed proposal but listed conditions: Israel's right to continue the war until its goals are achieved, the return of as many captives as possible in the deal's first stage, no return of Hamas fighters to northern Gaza and the prevention of arms smuggling, including control of the key Philadelphi corridor between Gaza and Egypt.
Israel's barbaric war has killed more than 38,443 people in Gaza and wounded more than 88,000, mostly women and children.
Short link: