Hamas freezes talks on Gaza ceasefire Tit-for-tat over al-Arouri assassination

Hamas has frozen discussions about a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip or a possible hostage deal with Israel, according to a Palestinian source on January 2.

“Hamas told mediators about its decision to freeze all discussions about a Gaza cease-fire or hostage swap with Israel,” the source told Anadolu.

The move came shortly after Hamas deputy chief Saleh al-Arouri was assassinated in an Israeli drone attack on a Hamas office in the Lebanese capital Beirut, according to Lebanon’s official National News Agency.

Hamas confirmed that Arouri and two commanders of its military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, were killed in the attack, which left at least six people dead.

“The cowardly assassinations carried out by the Zionist occupation against the leaders and symbols of our Palestinian people inside and outside Palestine will not succeed in breaking the will and steadfastness of our people or in undermining the continuation of their valiant resistance,” senior Hamas official Izzat al-Rishq said in a statement, claiming that the strike “proves once again the abject failure of the enemy to achieve any of its aggressive goals in the Gaza Strip.”

Arouri was the most senior Hamas leader to have been killed by Israel since the outbreak of the Gaza conflict on October 7.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened to deal with al-Arouri even before the escalation of the conflict between Hamas and Israel. Al-Arouri was elected deputy head of the Hamas politburo Ismail Haniyeh in 2017 and was recently considered "number two" in the movement.

Meanwhile, it became known that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has delayed his trip to Israel to next week, an official familiar with the matter tells The Times of Israel.

Blinken was slated to arrive in Israel toward the end of the week but will now arrive early next week, the official says.

The secretary will be making a handful of stops throughout the region.

"In this place [in the northern Gaza Strip], tactically speaking, we will operate through firepower, manoeuvres, special operations, and if necessary we will hold the area for a while," the Israeli Defense Ministry chief continued, noting that "the goal is to exhaust Hamas terrorists and destroy them." "In the southern Gaza Strip, the reality is different: in and around Khan Younis , the focus is on what is at the end of the tunnels, where senior Hamas leaders are hiding, in great depth," he continued.

Gallant noted that Israel "must come out victorious" and the Israeli military is "determined to achieve its goals." "Our course of action changes depending on our achievements and assessments of the situation," the defence minister continued, noting that Israel "does not stop its activities" in the Gaza Strip despite "existing misconceptions about it."

Israel has launched relentless air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by Hamas on October 7.

At least 22,185 Palestinians have since been killed and 57,035 others injured, mostly children and women, according to Gaza’s health authorities, while nearly 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack.

The Israeli onslaught has left Gaza in ruins, with 60 per cent of the enclave’s infrastructure damaged or destroyed, and nearly 2 million residents displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicines.