On Sunday, Hamas dismissed reports that claimed the movement withdrew from the negotiations due to the latest massacre in the Gaza Strip. In a statement, top Hamas official Izzat Al-Rishq dismissed the circulating media reports as “baseless”.

Qatar has condemned “the horrific” Israeli massacre in the Al Mawasi area of Khan Younis, southern Gaza, where occupation forces killed at least 90 internally displaced Palestinians while wounding at least 300 others.

In a statement on Saturday, Qatar’s foreign ministry condemned the brutal attack, which targeted tents of Palestinians internally displaced by Israel’s ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.

The Gulf state’s statement described the Israeli attack as “a shocking and brutal massacre and a new chapter in the ongoing series of crimes by the occupation against the Palestinian people and humanity as a whole.”

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reiterates that the repeated heinous crimes of the occupation, within the context of its continuous war on Gaza, underscore the urgent need for immediate international action to end this brutal aggression and provide protection for the Palestinian people,” the statement added.

Qatar, a central mediator between Israel and Hamas, warned that the “occupation’s disregard for Palestinian blood and its repeated attempts to impose a fait accompli and strip Palestinians of their rights” will undermine international efforts for a two-state solution.

Israel carried out the massacre in the early hours of Saturday when it launched a barrage of attacks on the area, where internally displaced Palestinians were seeking shelter after the occupation forces declared it as a “safe zone”.

The attack mainly killed women and children, raising the death toll in the Gaza Strip to at least 38,443 people since October 7. The figure is feared to be much higher with thousands still trapped under rubble.

Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum told the broadcaster that the area was hit by “five bombs and five missiles”.

Israeli newspaper Ma’ariv, citing the director of the Military Technology Company Asgard, confirmed that the missiles used were advanced and made by the American Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM). 

CNN separately identified at least one JDAM, citing Trevor Ball, a former U.S. Army explosive ordnance disposal technician. The Boeing-manufactured GPS-guided kit is precise and often guides bombs to hit a specific target.

The Israeli military claimed that it used “precise intelligence” to target the area while alleging the presence of Hamas members, including the movement’s military chief, Mohammed Deif, and senior commander, Rafa Salama. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a press conference “there is no absolute certainty yet that they [Hamas] were eliminated” while vowing to continue the brutal war in the Gaza Strip.

“Many of you are asking: ‘Then when will this war end?’ and my answer is clear and unequivocal: ‘It will end only when we achieve all of its goals, and not a moment before.’ Victory is not an empty word,” Netanyahu said.

Speaking to Al Jazeera after the attack, Khalil Al-Hayya, a member of the Hamas political bureau, highlighted Israel’s constant attempt to justify its crimes in the Gaza Strip using false allegations.

“Muhammad Al-Deif hears you [Netanyahu] now and mocks your false statements,” Al-Hayya said, addressing the Israeli prime minister.

“We are reassured, despite the pain we are experiencing for dozens of victims and martyrs, and we affirm that the blood of Commander Muhammad Al-Deif is not more precious than the blood of the youngest Palestinian child,” he stressed.

Ceasefire talks ongoing

The Israeli massacre took place amid ongoing efforts by Qatar, Egypt and the U.S. aimed at reaching a ceasefire and a captives release deal.

A fresh round of talks took place over the past couple of weeks after Hamas sent mediators, Qatar and Egypt, an amended proposal on July 3. 

Al-Hayya underlined Hamas’s “flexibility” throughout the talks in an effort to reach a deal, noting Netanyahu’s constant refusal to halt the war in the Gaza Strip.

“If someone compares [Joe] Biden’s words in his press conference with Netanyahu’s words, they would realise that Netanyahu does not want to reach an agreement,” he added.

Ismail Haniyeh, the head of Hamas’s political bureau, also held calls with officials in Qatar, Egypt, Turkiye and Oman where he briefed them on the latest developments in the Gaza Strip. 

He stressed that “the Israeli position taken by Netanyahu was to place obstacles that prevent reaching an agreement, including his media statements.”

“There are new points that were not mentioned in the negotiating paper, and this is also linked to the heinous massacres committed by the occupation army today in multiple areas in the Gaza Strip,” Hamas said in a statement, citing Haniyeh’s conversations.

On Sunday, Hamas dismissed reports that claimed the movement withdrew from the negotiations due to the latest massacre in the Gaza Strip.

In a statement, top Hamas official Izzat Al-Rishq dismissed the circulating media reports as “baseless”.

An Israeli delegation is expected to head to Doha this week to continue the negotiations after a round of talks reportedly took place in the Gulf state on Wednesday.