Hamas announced Sunday it will not send negotiators to cease-fire talks scheduled for Thursday in either Cairo or Doha. The talks are supposed to cover border security, hostage releases, and the conditions for a cease-fire. The group is demanding that mediators present a plan based on previous agreements from July 2, claiming that any new deal would grant Israel more time for aggression.
The shift comes in the wake of Israel’s expanded evacuation orders in Khan Younis, which displaced thousands of residents, and Saturday’s airstrike on a Gaza City school shelter that killed at least 90 people. Israel says 20 Hamas militants were using the shelter as an operating base, but the attack has drawn widespread condemnation from world leaders, including those of Egypt, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey. Both EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell and British Foreign Minister David Lammy expressed shock at the images from the school, and US Vice President Kamala Harris stated, “Yet again, far too many civilians have been killed.”
Meanwhile, tensions are heating up on Israel’s border with Lebanon as the terror group Hezbollah launched several explosive-laden drones at northern Israel on Saturday. The militants said the attack was in response to an Israeli strike that killed a Hamas commander in Lebanon. Iran also has yet to retaliate for the assassination last month of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, a move that could further fuel conflict in the region amid fears of an all-out war with Israel.
