Gaza truce talks hang in the balance as Israel and Hamas trade blame
Israel’s plan to keep troops in the enclave is a sticking point, but an Israeli official says the militants are trying to scuttle the deal
Gaza ceasefire talks hung in the balance as Hamas and Israel on Saturday accused the other of blocking attempts to strike a deal, nearly a week into an attempt to halt 21 months of bitter fighting in the Palestinian territory.
A Palestinian source with knowledge of the indirect talks in Qatar said that Israel’s proposals to keep its troops in the war-torn territory were holding up a deal for a 60-day pause.
But on the Israeli side, a senior political official, also speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivities of the talks, accused the militants of inflexibility and deliberately trying to scuttle an accord.
On the ground, Gaza’s civil defence agency said at least 38 people were killed across the territory on Saturday, including in an overnight air strike on an area sheltering the displaced.
“While we were sleeping, there was an explosion … where two boys, a girl and their mother were staying,” Bassam Hamdan said after the attack in an area of Gaza City.
“We found them torn to pieces, their remains scattered,” he added.