Hamas says Israel blocking truce, hostage release talks

GAZA CITY (AFP): The armed wing of the Palestinian militant group Hamas on Friday accused Israel of blocking a deal in talks for a temporary ceasefire and the release of hostages in Gaza.

Abu Obaida, spokesman for the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, said in a video statement that Hamas “always proposed a comprehensive deal that will return all the hostages at once.” But he said Israel “rejected what we proposed,” urging it to reconsider. “If the enemy remains obstinate in this round of negotiations we cannot guarantee a return to the partial-deal proposals — including the 10-prisoner (hostage) exchange offer,” he added.

Meanwhile, Palestinians and the Israeli army clashed on Friday during a march in a village in the northern occupied West Bank against a newly established Israeli settlement outpost. “We came to this area to express our protest and say: ‘this land is ours, not yours’,” Ghassan Bazour, head of Raba’s village council, told AFP.

While all Israeli settlements in the West Bank are illegal under international law, only outposts such as the one established overnight in Raba are also prohibited under Israeli law. An AFP journalist at the scene reported that a group of men holding Palestinian flags and those of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas’ Fatah party walked from Raba toward a nearby hill on top of which settlers had established the outpost. After conducting the Muslim Friday prayer at the base of the hill, people continued toward the outpost, until Israeli soldiers arrived on the scene and dispersed the crowd with tear gas, the journalist said.

The army did not respond to an AFP request for comment on Friday’s events in Raba. The Palestinian Red Crescent reported that its teams had provided support to 13 people suffering from tear gas inhalation. Village council chief Bazour said that settlers had originally taken over the hill’s high ground to establish an outpost and deny Palestinians access to nearby agricultural lands.

“There is now a settler outpost here (which) will continue to devour the land and empty these areas,” Muayad Shaaban, head of the Palestinian Authority’s Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission, told AFP. Despite it being dispersed by the army, Shaaban was enthusiastic about Friday’s march, given that violence in recent years has made all protests against settlers dangerous for Palestinians.

“This model of resistance must be applied throughout the West Bank. I call for massive marches… to stop this aggression, this terrorism,” he said. Violence in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967, has soared since the Hamas attack of October 2023 triggered the Gaza war.

Since October 7, 2023, Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 956 Palestinians, including many militants, according to health ministry figures. Over the same period, at least 36 Israelis, including soldiers, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations, according to official figures.

Meanwhile, Palestinians and the Israeli army clashed on Friday during a march in a village in the northern occupied West Bank against a newly established Israeli settlement outpost. “We came to this area to express our protest and say: ‘this land is ours, not yours’,” Ghassan Bazour, head of Raba’s village council, told AFP.

While all Israeli settlements in the West Bank are illegal under international law, only outposts such as the one established overnight in Raba are also prohibited under Israeli law. An AFP journalist at the scene reported that a group of men holding Palestinian flags and those of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas’ Fatah party walked from Raba toward a nearby hill on top of which settlers had established the outpost.

After conducting the Muslim Friday prayer at the base of the hill, people continued toward the outpost, until Israeli soldiers arrived on the scene and dispersed the crowd with tear gas, the journalist said. The army did not respond to an AFP request for comment on Friday’s events in Raba. The Palestinian Red Crescent reported that its teams had provided support to 13 people suffering from tear gas inhalation.

Village council chief Bazour said that settlers had originally taken over the hill’s high ground to establish an outpost and deny Palestinians access to nearby agricultural lands. “There is now a settler outpost here (which) will continue to devour the land and empty these areas,” Muayad Shaaban, head of the Palestinian Authority’s Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission, told AFP.

Despite it being dispersed by the army, Shaaban was enthusiastic about Friday’s march, given that violence in recent years has made all protests against settlers dangerous for Palestinians. “This model of resistance must be applied throughout the West Bank. I call for massive marches… to stop this aggression, this terrorism,” he said.

Violence in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967, has soared since the Hamas attack of October 2023 triggered the Gaza war. Since October 7, 2023, Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 956 Palestinians, including many militants, according to health ministry figures. Over the same period, at least 36 Israelis, including soldiers, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations, according to official figures.