Conflicting reports on Hamas pulling out of truce talks

They come after the latest Israeli strike targeting the militants’ military chief

A Hamas official on July 14 said the group is pulling out of Gaza truce talks, following an Israeli strike that targeted military chief Mohammed Deif, who another Hamas figure said was “fine” despite the attack, AFP reported.

But some news services later reported Hamas denying its withdrawal from ceasefire talks.

“Commander Mohammed Deif is well and directly overseeing” the operations of the Hamas military wing, according to AFP, quoting its source. Israel staged a huge bombing raid on a camp for displaced people in southern Gaza on July 13 that it said was an attempt to kill Deif.

Another senior official from the Iran-backed Islamist group, which has been fighting a nine-month-long war with Israel in the Gaza Strip, said Hamas was withdrawing from ceasefire talks because of Israeli “massacres” and the country’s attitude in negotiations, AFP reported.

The Health Ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip said at least 92 people were killed, more than half of them women and children, and 300 wounded in the strike on Al-Mawasi camp.

Quoting its source, AFP reported that Hamas’ Qatar-based political chief Ismail Haniyeh had told international mediators of the “decision to halt negotiations due to the occupation’s (Israel) lack of seriousness, continued policy of procrastination and obstruction, and the ongoing massacres against unarmed civilians”.