GAZA CITY
The Palestinian resistance group Hamas said Wednesday that Israel had imposed a new war on the Palestinian people, a few hours after the collapse of indirect ceasefire talks between Israel and Palestinian negotiators in Cairo.
"Israel has imposed a new war on the Palestinians and Hamas," Ezzat al-Rashq, a senior Hamas leader and a member of the Palestinian negotiation team, wrote on his Facebook page.
"We have no other option than to face up to it and we will prevail," he added.
Palestinian negotiators left Cairo on Wednesday morning, hours after the collapse of indirect talks – aimed at reaching a permanent ceasefire deal.
The delegation includes members of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement, along with representatives of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, the two main Palestinian resistance factions.
The Israeli delegation had left Cairo earlier Tuesday upon instructions from Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu.
Israel claims it pulled its delegation from Cairo after rockets were launched from Gaza at different parts of Israel on Tuesday.
Israel then launched several strikes on the blockaded Gaza Strip, killing at least 11 Palestinians, including four children.
The latest fatalities bring to 2028 the number of Palestinians, the vast majority of them civilians, killed by Israel since hostilities began in the first week of July.
Hamas, for its part, denied any knowledge of Tuesday's alleged rocket barrage, accusing Israel of seeking to undermine the ceasefire talks.
Since early August, Cairo has hosted indirect Palestinian-Israeli talks aimed at hammering out a permanent ceasefire arrangement.
By Ola Attalah
englishnews@aa.com.tr
www.aa.com.tr/en
