cairo – A senior official of the militant Islamist group Hamas, Osama Hamdan, said Saturday there has been no progress in cease-fire talks with Israel about the war in Gaza.
Hamdan spoke at a news conference in Beirut.
Arab mediators’ efforts, backed by the United States, have so far failed to conclude a cease-fire, with Israel and Hamas blaming each other for the impasse.
Hamas says any deal must end the war and bring full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, while Israel says it will accept only temporary pauses in fighting until Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since 2007, is eradicated.
Hamdan also blamed the United States for pressing Hamas to accept Israel’s conditions.
‘Once again, Hamas is ready to deal positively with any proposal that secures a permanent cease-fire, a comprehensive withdrawal from Gaza Strip and a serious swap deal,’ said Hamdan, referring to a potential swap of hostages held in Gaza for Palestinians in Israeli prisons.
When Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on October 7 they killed about 1,200 people and seized more than 250 hostages, according to Israel.
Israel’s military offensive into Gaza has killed at least 30,000 people, mostly combatants, Israel said. The Gaza Health Ministry puts the figure at 38,000 people, mostly women and children. Israel has lost more than 300 soldiers in Gaza and says at least a third of the Palestinian dead are fighters.
Palestinian health officials said Israeli military strikes across the enclave Saturday have so far killed at least 35 people and wounded others.
The Israeli military announced Saturday the death of two soldiers killed in combat in northern Gaza, as Israeli forces pressed on with an offensive in the Shijaiyah neighborhood in Gaza City.
Residents said tanks advanced deeper into several districts including the area around the local market and there was heavy fire from the air and the ground.
The armed wing of Hamas and the allied Islamic Jihad reported fierce fighting, saying fighters fired anti-tank rockets and mortar bombs against the forces operating there.
The Israeli military said dozens of Palestinian gunmen were killed over the past two days in close quarters combat and airstrikes in Shijaiyah, after forces encircled what it described as a civilian area converted by Hamas into a militant compound.
‘In the area, the troops located observation posts, weapons, enemy drones and a long-range rocket launcher near the schools,’ the military said in a statement.
Hamas has denied assertions that it operates in civilian areas such as schools and hospitals.
A displaced Palestinian woman stands next to her belongings as people evacuate the Mawassi area on the outskirts of southwestern Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, June 28, 2024.
More than eight months into Israel’s air and ground war in Gaza, militants continued to stage attacks on Israeli forces, operating in areas that the Israeli army said it had gained control over months ago.
Israeli leaders have said in the past week that the intense phase of the war is approaching its end, and that the next stage of the offensive will mainly be smaller-scale operations meant to stop Hamas from reassembling.
Meanwhile, Israeli forces operating in several districts in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, killed several Palestinians and forced families living in the far western edge of the city along the coastal areas to head northward, according to Palestinian medical officials and residents.
Israel has said its military operations in Rafah are aimed at eradicating the last armed battalions of Hamas.
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Reuters
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