Hamas: No ceasefire deal yet, talks still ongoing

Published July 17th, 2014 - 01:53 GMT

Al Bawaba

Agence France Presse reported Thursday that Hamas officials denied the alleged ceasefire deal set for early Friday, saying that talks between themselves and Israel are still ongoing.

"The news about a ceasefire [set for early Friday] is incorrect. There are continuing efforts but no agreement until now," Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told AFP on Thursday.

Israeli officials had previously told an AFP reporter on the condition of anonymity that Hamas and Tel Aviv had agreed to uphold a ceasefire starting at 6 a.m. Friday morning.

The conflicting reports were predecessed by further conflicting coverage on alleged ceasefire plans Thursday in a deal that was said to have been brokered by Egypt. However, Hamas officials said that they were not involved in such discussions and only learned of the alleged ceasefire from the media.

Israeli and Hamas fighters have thus continued to exchange strikes and rocket fire as the death toll climbs as the tenth day of violence comes to an end.

More than 230 Palestinians have been killed from Israeli airstrikes in the past ten days and another 1,678 have been injured, according to Gaza medical authorities, as reported by AFP. One Israeli has also been killed. Around 80 percent of the total number killed are civilians.