A senior Hamas official said that Tuesday’s elimination of the deputy leader of Hamas, Saleh al-Arouri, does not allow for a dialogue on negotiations on an exchange deal and a ceasefire with Israel.
In a conversation with the pan-Arab Al-Araby Al-Jadeed newspaper, the Palestinian Arab source said that the mediators feel "embarrassed" following the "crime" that was committed after there had been a positive atmosphere in the indirect negotiations between the parties, who exchanged offers and responses to the offers.
Now, the source said, there is a desire to respond to the elimination in a similar manner and that the options are open in all arenas while at the same time there are talks between all the Palestinian Arab organizations on the appropriate response.
An Egyptian official told the newspaper that there is no alternative to the negotiation route to resolve the crisis in the Gaza Strip and that if Egypt ceases its involvement in this issue, the crisis may escalate in a way that exceeds the estimates of all parties.
The official added that Egypt informed Israel that in response to the elimination of Arouri, it was freezing its involvement in mediating between Israel and Hamas, and against this background an Israeli delegation, which included the person responsible for the captives and the missing, cut short its visit to Egypt, just one day after arriving in Cairo.