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Hamas: Any Israeli Offensive in Rafah Will 'Blow Up' Hostage Exchange Talks

A picture taken from Rafah shows smoke billowing during Israeli bombardment over Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on February 11, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. (Photo by SAID KHATIB / AFP)
A picture taken from Rafah shows smoke billowing during Israeli bombardment over Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on February 11, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. (Photo by SAID KHATIB / AFP)
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Hamas: Any Israeli Offensive in Rafah Will 'Blow Up' Hostage Exchange Talks

A picture taken from Rafah shows smoke billowing during Israeli bombardment over Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on February 11, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. (Photo by SAID KHATIB / AFP)
A picture taken from Rafah shows smoke billowing during Israeli bombardment over Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on February 11, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. (Photo by SAID KHATIB / AFP)

Any Israeli ground offensive in Rafah on the Gaza border will "blow up" the hostage exchange negotiations," Hamas-run Aqsa Television channel quoted a senior Hamas leader as saying on Sunday.

Israel’s neighbors and key mediators also warned Saturday of disaster and repercussions if its military launches a ground invasion in Gaza’s southern city of Rafah.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said any Israeli ground offensive on Rafah would have “disastrous consequences,” and asserted that Israel aims to eventually force the Palestinians out of their land.

Another mediator, Qatar, also warned of disaster, and Saudi Arabia warned of “very serious repercussions.”

A total of 28,176 Palestinians have been killed and 67,784 have been injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since Oct. 7, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement on Sunday.

Some 112 Palestinians were killed and 173 injured in the past 24 hours, the ministry added.

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Tunisians Vote in Election, with Main Rival to Saied in Prison

A voter casts her ballot at a polling station during the presidential election in Tunis, Tunisia October 6, 2024. REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi
A voter casts her ballot at a polling station during the presidential election in Tunis, Tunisia October 6, 2024. REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi
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Tunisians Vote in Election, with Main Rival to Saied in Prison

A voter casts her ballot at a polling station during the presidential election in Tunis, Tunisia October 6, 2024. REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi
A voter casts her ballot at a polling station during the presidential election in Tunis, Tunisia October 6, 2024. REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi

Tunisians began voting on Sunday in an election in which President Kais Saied is seeking a second term, with his main rival suddenly jailed last month and the other candidate heading a minor political party.
Sunday's election pits Saied against two rivals: his former ally turned critic, Chaab Party leader Zouhair Maghzaoui, and Ayachi Zammel, who had been seen as posing a big threat to Saied until he was jailed last month.
Senior figures from the biggest parties, which largely oppose Saied, have been imprisoned on various charges over the past year and those parties have not publicly backed any of the three candidates on Sunday's ballot. Other opponents have been barred from running.
Polls close at 6 p.m. (1700 GMT) and results are expected in the next two days. Political tensions have risen since an electoral commission named by Saied disqualified three prominent candidates last month, amid protests by opposition and civil society groups. Lawmakers loyal to Saied then approved a law last week stripping the administrative court of authority over election disputes. This Court is widely seen as the country's last independent judicial body, after Saied dissolved the Supreme Judicial Council and dismissed dozens of judges in 2022.
Saied, elected in 2019, seized most powers in 2021 when he dissolved the elected parliament and rewrote the constitution, a move the opposition described as a coup.