A senior Hamas official said it had not pulled back from talks with Israel to end a week of hostilities, but the negotiations had become more difficult after the bloodiest attack in Gaza at the weekend. Israeli attacks in Gaza have targeted Hamas' military leader Mohammed Deif. Izzat El-Reshiq, a member of Hamas' political office, accused Israel on Sunday of trying to "resume its aggression" and undermine efforts by Arab mediators and the United States for a ceasefire by stepping up its attacks in Gaza. Saturday's strike on Khan Younis, which killed at least 90 Palestinians according to local health authorities, has thrown a shadow over the ceasefire talks.
There had been hopeful signs of a possible cease-fire and the return of hostages being held in Gaza. However, two Egyptian security sources—one participating in the talks in Doha and another in Cairo—said the negotiations had been suspended after three days of intensive discussions. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was due to convene his ministers on Sunday to review developments.
The Israeli military said Saturday's strike had killed Rafa Salama, head of Hamas' Khan Younis brigade. There was no word whether Mohammed Deif,, had been killed or not. The head of Israel's Shin Bet security service called Saturday's strike the result of "pinpoint intelligence" and said it had killed 25 Hamas operatives over the past week who had been directly involved in the October 7 attack on southern Israel. High-ranking Hamas official firmly denied Deif's death, which ascribed an Israeli ploy to justify the assault.
The Israeli forces continued to bomb Gaza from both the air and the ground throughout Sunday. An attack on a school run by the United Nations in the Nuseirat camp killed 15 Palestinians and injured dozens more, said Hamas media and health officials. Providing their side of the story, the military stated that the site was used by Hamas fighters and guaranteed that they did all they can to lower civilian casualties. A couple of missiles hit the top floor of the institution, residents said, adding that it is located near the camp's bustling market area.
Earlier, Israeli airstrikes hit four houses in Gaza City, killing at least 16 Palestinians and wounding dozens. The health ministry in Gaza said at least 38,584 Palestinians had been killed and 88,881 wounded since the October 7 start of the conflict. The ministry added that 141 Palestinians were killed by Israeli strikes in the past day—the highest one-day death toll in weeks. The health ministry makes no distinction between combatants and civilians, although officials there said most of those killed were civilians. Israel said 326 of its soldiers were killed in Gaza, and it put the number of Palestinian fighters killed at about one-third of the total toll.
The conflict broke out after a Hamas-led assault in Israel on October 7 that killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and saw around 250 hostages taken to Gaza.