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By Saleh Salem and James Mackenzie
DOHA/JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh stated on Thursday his Palestinian militant group was nonetheless in search of a deal for a ceasefire and hostage launch after an Israeli strike killed three of his sons in an assault in Gaza.
Talking in Qatar whereas receiving condolences, Haniyeh stated “the pursuits of the Palestinian individuals are positioned above all the things” when requested if the strike would have an effect on the talks on a truce and hostage launch.
“We’re in search of to succeed in a deal however the occupation continues to be procrastinating and evading a response to the calls for,” he informed Reuters.
Israeli forces carried out Wednesday’s assault with out authorisation from high commanders or senior leaders, Israeli media stated on Thursday, elevating fears amongst households of hostages it might derail efforts to safe their launch from Gaza.
“I can solely hope this would possibly not have an effect on the negotiation. I hope it will not make Hamas put tougher situations on the deal,” stated Ofri Bibas Levy, whose brother Yarden Bibas was taken captive together with his spouse and two babies in the course of the Hamas-led assault on southern Israel on Oct. 7.
Israel’s authorities has confronted rising stress from households of the 133 Israeli hostages nonetheless believed to be held within the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, though talks mediated by the U.S., Egypt and Qatar have but to safe a deal.
“The important thing to any settlement with the occupation begins with a everlasting ceasefire and our high precedence within the ongoing negotiation course of is the unconditional return of the displaced and the entire withdrawal of forces from the Gaza Strip,” Hamas spokesperson Abdel-Latif al-Qanoua stated in a press release.
“With out that, an settlement won’t occur,” he added.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s authorities has confronted mounting criticism from Israel’s foremost ally, the US, over the conduct of its navy marketing campaign and the chain of command in pursuing its targets.
This has been prompted by the rising variety of Palestinian civilians killed and stoked most just lately by a strike that killed overseas and Palestinian help employees in Gaza.
STRIKES
Israel’s Walla information company reported that neither Netanyahu nor Defence Minister Yoav Gallant had been informed prematurely of Wednesday’s strike on Haniyeh’s sons, which was coordinated by the Israeli navy and the Shin Guess intelligence service.
Quoting senior Israeli officers, it reported that the three grownup sons, Amir, Mohammad and Hazem Haniyeh, had been focused as fighters and never as a result of they have been the sons of Hamas’s political chief.
The Israeli navy didn’t touch upon stories that 4 of Haniyeh’s grandchildren had additionally been killed.
The navy declined to touch upon Walla and different stories. No remark was accessible from the prime minister’s workplace.
Haniyeh, 61, informed Reuters his sons weren’t lively Hamas fighters. “These claims are lies to justify this crime and bloodbath,” he stated.
“They have been occurring Eid day visiting relations,” he added in a reference to Eid al-Fitr celebrating the top of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
The conservative Israel Hayom every day quoted unnamed navy officers saying the strike was carried out in accordance with process however stated there was a query about whether or not hitting such a delicate goal ought to have been carried out with out first consulting superiors.
The left-wing Haaretz newspaper, a relentless critic of Netanyahu and his authorities, referred to as the killings and final week’s assassination of senior Iranian officers within the Iranian embassy in Damascus “proactive acts of aggression, designed to thwart any probability of a hostage deal”.
Two officers have been dismissed final Friday for misjudgement and breaches of working procedures in a strike on an help convoy in Gaza that killed seven help employees.
International requires a ceasefire have been rising because the battle has entered its seventh month however there was little signal of progress within the talks.
Hamas is demanding an finish to the Israeli offensive, a withdrawal of Israeli forces and permission for Gaza’s displaced Palestinians to return to their properties.
Israel needs to safe the return of the hostages however says it won’t finish the battle till Hamas is destroyed as a navy drive, and that it’s nonetheless planning to assault the southern metropolis of Rafah, the place greater than one million civilians have taken refuge.
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