Hamas chief ‘underneath stress to agree ceasefire attributable to Gaza struggling’

The CIA believes Hamas‘ leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, is under pressure from his commanders to agree to an urgent ceasefire with Israel due to the extensive suffering of people in Gaza, according to a well-placed source.

CIA director Bill Burns told an off-the-record conference that Sinwar is facing blame for the thousands of deaths and displacements of civilians resulting from Israel’s offensive in the Palestinian enclave, an anonymous source attending told CNN.

Burns, speaking at the Allen & Company summer retreat in Sun Valley, Idaho, allegedly told the conference on Saturday that pressure has grown in the last two weeks from senior leaders worn down by the battle to seek a lasting resolution.

Burns was said to be positive about the prospects of a truce being negotiated, suggesting there was a ‘fragile possibility’ for an end to the war to materialise, while noting the difficulty getting an armistice agreement over the line. 

Sinwar, described by Israel as the architect of Hamas’ attack on October 7, is believed to be hiding in tunnels underneath Khan Yunis, and is believed by US Intelligence to be the key decision maker for whether Hamas agrees to a deal. 

Washington has been pushing for a truce between Israel and Hamas, but has met some resistance from both sides.

Both Israel and Hamas accuse the other side of being responsible for delays in peace talks as international mediators weigh in to help steer the discussions. 

Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh said Sunday that the group was pulling out of indirect talks for a deal in protest at recent Israeli ‘massacres’.

This included a massive strike on Sunday that the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said killed at least 92 people.

Haniyeh said Hamas stood ready to return to the indirect talks once Israel ‘demonstrates seriousness in reaching a ceasefire agreement and a prisoner exchange deal’. 

Israel kept up its bombing of Gaza today, after its key military backer the United States renewed criticism of its ally over the high civilian casualty toll of the war.

Residents told the AFP news agency that Israeli warplanes were striking central Gaza and artillery fire hitting the territory’s south, while medics said they pulled multiple bodies from the rubble of the latest bombardment.

At least eight Palestinians were killed and several were wounded in an Israeli air strike on a school in central Gaza on Tuesday, Gaza health officials said. 

The Israeli military said its air force struck ‘approximately 40 terror targets’ in Gaza.

They included ‘sniping posts, observation posts, Hamas military structures, terror infrastructure, and buildings rigged with explosives’, Israel claimed.

It said its troops were also continuing targeted raids in the far-southern city of Rafah and in the central Gaza Strip.

The United States has been critical of Israel’s conduct in Gaza, denouncing the killing of civilians ostensibly in pursuit of two main war aims: returning the remaining hostages snatched from southern Israel on October 7 and vanquishing Hamas for good.

‘We continue to see far too many civilians killed in this conflict,’ spokesman Matthew Miller said after Blinken met Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi.

Israel’s offensive began after Hamas and other adjacent groups launched a surprise incursion into southern Israel, massacring some 1,200 people, mostly civilians.

The militants also seized 251 hostages, 116 of whom are still in Gaza including 42 the Israeli military says are dead. 

Since October, Israel’s offensive has killed 38,713 people, also mostly civilians, according to figures from the Gaza health ministry.

The Israeli military has also rounded up scores of Gazans, who have made allegations of torture, rape and other abuses in custody that Israeli authorities have denied.

Palestinian lawyer Khaled Mahajna said Monday that prisoners had recounted guards using ‘electric prods’ on inmates’ bodies.

In the case of one prisoner, a ‘fire extinguisher tube was inserted into his buttocks and the fire extinguisher was turned on,’ Mahajna said after visiting detained Palestinian journalists.

The lawyer said prisoners were handcuffed when they ate the meagre meals provided, while detainees reported widespread disease and untreated wounds.

Five Israeli human rights groups have gone to court over conditions at the Sde Teiman desert camp where Gazans are being held. Israeli officials insist they act within the bounds of international law.

Indirect talks on ending the devastating war have been brokered by Qatar and Egypt, with US support, but months of negotiations have failed to bring a breakthrough.

At the end of May, US President Joe Biden outlined a ceasefire roadmap he said had been drawn up by Israel that triggered an intensification of the talks.

But despite meetings in both Cairo and Doha, there has been no sign of progress on how the roadmap might be implemented.

Critics in Israel, including tens of thousands of demonstrators who have marched to demand a deal to bring home the hostages, have accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of prolonging the war.

The war has forced 90 percent of Gaza’s 2.4 million people to flee their homes. 

Many have sought refuge in UN-run schools, six of which have been hit by Israeli strikes since July 6.