Hamas denies accepting cease-fire with Israel

GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) – Palestinian resistance group Hamas has denied reports about agreeing to an Egyptian-brokered truce with Israel as of Thursday.

"Reports circulated by some media outlets of the enemy [Israel] about Hamas accepting a cease-fire on Thursday are not true,” Hamas leader Izzat al-Rishq said on Twitter.

He said there have been neither agreement nor “specific timings for the cease-fire”.

On Tuesday, Israeli Channel 12 reported that Egypt proposed a cease-fire between Israel and Gaza-based Palestinian factions to take effect from Thursday.

“Cairo suggested the truce starts from 6 am next Thursday (3:00 GMT),” Channel 12 said, adding that Hamas has agreed to the proposal.

Al-Rishq, however, confirmed that serious mediation efforts were ongoing.

At least 219 Palestinians have been killed, including 63 children and 36 women, and 1,530 others injured in Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip since May 10, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

Ten Israelis have also been killed in Palestinian rocket fire from the Gaza Strip.

Recent tensions that started in East Jerusalem during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan spread to Gaza as a result of Israeli assaults on worshippers in the flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem, where Al-Aqsa is located, during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. It annexed the entire city in 1980 in a move never recognized by the international community.

*Writing by Ibrahim Mukhtar in Ankara