Hamas Leader Sinwar Holds Firm on Demands for Gaza Cease-Fire With Israel

An airstrike hit a United Nations school that had been turned into a shelter in Nuseirat, in central Gaza.

Gaza chief issues first response to Biden-promoted plan while Palestinian officials accuse Israel of killing dozens in airstrike
By Summer Said, Stephen Kalin and Omar Abdel-Baqui, the WSJ

Hamas’s leader in Gaza told Arab negotiators that he would accept a peace deal only if Israel commits to a permanent cease-fire, affirming the militant group’s position in his first response to a proposal introduced by President Biden to end the eight-month war.

“Hamas will not surrender its guns or sign a proposal that asks for that,” Arab mediators said Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar told them in a brief message they received Thursday, as two top U.S. officials, including Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns, hold talks in the region aimed at jump-starting long-stalled negotiations.

Biden aired what he described as an Israeli peace plan on May 31.

The response from Sinwar came as the Israeli military struck a United Nation's school that was turned into a shelter in Nuseirat, in central Gaza, targeting what it said was a Hamas facility there. Palestinian officials in Gaza's aid at least 40 people were killed, including 14 children and nine women.

The Israeli military said it's airstrike targeted three classrooms where 20 to 30 militants were hiding, including some who belong to a unit that participated in the Oct.7 attacks on Israel. The military listed nine militants it said were killed, including seven from Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which like Hamas is designated by the U.S. as a terrorist organization.

Military spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said the names of more militants killed in the strike would be revealed later, and that steps were taken before the strike to avoid civilian casualties. The Israeli military didn't provide information on civilian deaths.

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the U.S. expects Israel to be fully transparent about who was killed in the strike. He said Israel had a right to target militants in the school but that it had an obligation to take every possible step to minimize harm to civilians. “Even if the intent is what the [Israel imilitary] has said publicly, that they were trying to use a precision strike just to target 20 to30 militants, if you have seen 14 children die in that strike, that's how's that something went wrong, ”he said.

The U.N. Relief and Works Agency was unable to confirm if Hamas was using the compound, where about 6,000 people were staying. “Were mind all parties to the conflict that schools andotherU.N. premisesmustneverbeused for military or fighting purposes,” said Juliette Touma, an Unrwa spokeswoman.

An Israeli airstrike in Southern Gaza last week that led to the deaths of dozens of civilians has intensified international pressure on Israel about how it is carrying out the war. Israel said two senior Hamas officials were killed in last week's strike.

Such incidents also are increasing pressure on Biden to find away to end the war. Negotiations between Israel and Hamas, mediated by Qatar and Egypt, toward a possible cease-fire have faltered for months.

The U.S. has drafted a U.N. Security Council résolution calling on Hamas to accept the latest proposal. The three-phase plan outlined by Biden would begin with a complete cease-fire over six weeks, a withdrawal of Israel from populated areas of Gaza and the release of some hostages held by Hamas. The second phase would see a permanent end to the hostilities, a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and the release of remaining hostages. Phase three would involve reconstruction of Gaza.

Israel and Hamas said the terms set out by Biden don’t accurately reflect what has been offered to the militant group.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he wouldn't accept any deal that commits to a permanent end to the war. Hamas said in a statement Thursday that the plan outlined by Biden last week would be largely acceptable.

White House officials have said that Biden accurately represented the Israeli position.

The leaders of 17 countries, including the U.S., issued a joint statement Thursday calling on Israel and Hamas “to make whatever final compromises are necessary to close this deal.”

Netanyahu “will share the Israeli government’s vision for defending their democracy’’ before a joint meeting of Congress on July 24, House Speaker Mike Johnson said Thursday.

Since the war began, more than 170 Unrwa buildings have been hit, killing more than 450 displaced people, according to the agency. At least 192 Unrwa staffers have been killed.

Unrwa in the past has said some of the facilities it has vacated in Gaza since the war began have been used by others, including Hamas.

The Israeli military said the militants it hit in Nuseirat Thursday weren't launching attacks from the Unrwa building, but were coming and going to conduct operations against Israeli forces in the area.

Sahar Sa’eed recently moved with her family to the Unrwa shelter in Nuseirat after they were forced to flee Al-Bureij. When the airstrike hit, she said she ran to check on her father and brothers. “All I saw was blood and body parts scattered in the midst offire,” she said.