Hamas on Sunday denied reports that it had frozen its participation in ongoing ceasefire negotiations with Israel in the aftermath of a Gaza airstrike that targeted terrorist mastermind Mohammed Deif.
“What was published by the French news agency [Agence France-Presse], and circulated by some media outlets, about a decision by the Hamas movement to stop negotiations, in response to the Al-Mawasi massacre west of Khan Younis, is baseless,” said Izzat al-Rishq, a member of Hamas’s political bureau.
Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh had reportedly told international mediators of the “decision to halt negotiations due to the occupation’s [Israel’s] lack of seriousness, continued policy of procrastination and obstruction and the ongoing massacres against unarmed civilians.”
Deif and Salameh, the commander of the terror group’s Khan Younis Brigade, were targeted in a building close to the Al-Mawasi humanitarian zone and Khan Younis.
Hamas sources confirmed that Salameh was killed in the strike, while refusing to confirm or deny Deif’s death, according to a Sunday morning report in the pan-Arab daily newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat.
A top Hamas official told AFP on Sunday that Deif was “fine” despite the Israeli assassination attempt. “Commander Mohammed Deif is well and directly overseeing” the terror group’s armed wing, the official said.
Israel’s Kan News reported on Saturday night that senior security officials told the political echelon during a situational assessment that Deif was wounded from the attack, and that they were waiting for final confirmation, which could take time. The security officials also confirmed that Salameh was killed.
Mediators are working to revive the ceasefire outline President Joe Biden presented on May 31, which calls in its first stage for a “full and complete” six-week truce during which dozens of hostages—women, the elderly and the sick—would be exchanged for hundreds of terrorists.
Hamas has agreed to a ceasefire framework and mediators are negotiating the details, The Washington Post reported last week.
The Post‘s David Ignatius said however that though the framework is in place, a final agreement is unlikely to be imminent as the details of the deal are complex and will take time to work through.
One U.S. official suggested that Hamas’s acquiescence to the terms was at least in part prompted by the fact that the terror group is in “rough shape” and low on ammunition as a result of Israeli military pressure.
During a Wednesday meeting in Jerusalem, Netanyahu told U.S. National Security Council Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa Brett McGurk that the Jewish state remains committed to a deal as long as it adheres to his red lines.
The premier’s stated red lines include the ability to resume fighting in Gaza until all war goals have been met; an end to arms smuggling from Egypt; no return of “thousands” of Hamas terrorists to the enclave’s north; and maximizing the number of living hostages released.
