Hamas leader says Gaza truce stance unchanged after son’s killing

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh insists Three of his sons were killed in Israeli air strikes It will not affect truce talks in Gaza, as Thursday’s bombardment rocked the Palestinian territory.

Israel confirmed the killings while talks on a temporary ceasefire and hostage release agreement in Cairo continued to drag on with no sign of a breakthrough.

In an interview with Qatar’s Al Jazeera, Haniyeh said the attack, which also killed four of his grandchildren, was an attempt to change Hamas’ negotiating position.

“They are delusional if they think this will force Hamas to change its position,” he said.

U.S. President Joe Biden said Hamas “needs to take action” on the latest truce proposal, which the militant group said it was studying.

The United States, Israel’s main international ally, has also been increasing pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to a ceasefire, increase the amount of aid flowing into the besieged Gaza Strip and abandon plans to invade the southern city of Rafah.

Biden called Netanyahu’s handling of the war a “mistake” in an interview aired on Tuesday before warning Israel on Wednesday that it was not allowing enough aid into the territory.

Despite calls for a ceasefire, Israel launched attacks in the Gaza Strip early Thursday, particularly in the southern part of the territory, witnesses said.

The war broke out when Hamas launched an attack on Israel on October 7, killing 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli figures.

Palestinian militants also took about 250 hostages, 129 of whom remain in Gaza, and 34 of whom the Israeli army said were dead.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 33,482 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-controlled region’s health ministry.

Hamas ‘Studying’ Truce

The talks, brokered by the United States, Egypt and Qatar, have been ongoing since Sunday.

“Hamas is studying the proposals put forward… and has not responded yet,” Hamas spokesman in Doha Hossam Badran told AFP.

The framework being distributed would halt fighting for six weeks and exchange some 40 hostages for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.

“Now it’s Hamas’ turn and they need to act on the proposals that have been made,” Biden said at a news conference on Wednesday.

International criticism has grown over Israel’s handling of the war and the lack of aid entering the territory.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez warned on Wednesday that Israel’s “disproportionate response” in Gaza could “destabilize the Middle East and therefore the entire world.”

Several Western countries, including Ireland and Australia, have said Spain would recognize a Palestinian state in the near future as a starting point for wider peace talks.

‘mistake’

Benny Gantz, a member of Israel’s war cabinet, said militarily “Hamas has been defeated” but pledged to continue fighting “the remnants of Hamas”, including in the coming years.

He also echoed Netanyahu’s vow to enter the southern city of Rafah despite growing international concern about civilians there. “We will enter Rafah. We will return to Khan Younis,” he said.

More than 1.5 million civilians have fled the fighting in Rafah, the last Gaza city not yet facing an Israeli ground invasion.
The United States has repeatedly warned against launching an attack on Rafah.

Biden offered his harshest criticism yet of the war, a sign of his growing frustration with hawkish Netanyahu.
“I think what he did was a mistake,” Biden said in an interview with US television network Univision that aired Tuesday night.

He urged Netanyahu to “call for a ceasefire that allows full access to” all food and medicine into Gaza over the next six to eight weeks.

The U.S. Agency for International Development says Washington’s tougher line on aid has produced some results.

U.S. Agency for International Development Administrator Samantha Power said aid deliveries had changed “dramatically” in recent days but insisted Israel needed to do more.

On Wednesday, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant said Israel would “deliver substantial assistance to Gaza” using a new crossing on the northern border, simplified inspections and two new routes organized jointly with Jordan.

He said they expected 500 aid trucks to enter Gaza per day, which would be comparable to the average number of aid and commercial trucks arriving in the area before the war.

Iran threatens Israel

The war in Gaza has fueled fears that conflict could engulf the wider region.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned Israel on Wednesday that it “must and will be punished” following last week’s attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus, which Tehran blamed on Israel.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz responded in Farsi: “If Iran launches an attack from its territory, Israel will respond and attack Iran.”

In response to threats from Iran, Biden on Wednesday pledged “ironclad” support for Israel.

“As I told Prime Minister Netanyahu, our commitment to Israel’s security and defense against these threats from Iran and its proxies is ironclad,” Biden said.

Lufthansa announced on Wednesday that it was suspending flights to and from Tehran, possibly until Thursday, saying it was “due to the current situation in the Middle East.”