Hamas denies halting Gaza cease-fire talks after deadly Israeli attack

By Hosni Nadim

GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) - Palestinian resistance group Hamas on Sunday denied reports about suspending Gaza cease-fire and prisoner swap talks following an Israeli airstrike on a "humanitarian zone" for displaced Palestinians.

At least 90 people were killed and nearly 300 others injured in a strike that targeted the Al-Mawasi area of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on Saturday.

The Israeli army claimed that the attack targeted the commander of Hamas' armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, and his deputy.

Reports emerged that Hamas had suspended the cease-fire talks with Israel following the deadly attack.

"These reports are unfounded," Hamas leader Izzat al-Rishq told Anadolu.

"This Nazi escalation against our Palestinian people...aims to obstruct efforts to reach an agreement to halt the aggression," he added.

For months, the US, Qatar, and Egypt have been mediating efforts to reach an agreement between Israel and Hamas that would ensure a hostage exchange and a cease-fire.

Israel, flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7 attack by Hamas.

Nearly 38,600 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and nearly 88,900 injured, according to local health authorities.

Over nine months into the Israeli onslaught, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.

* Writing by Ikram Kouachi