Qatar, Egypt Say Assassinations Damage Gaza Truce Chances

A person watches the news on multiple TV screens, most of them announcing the killing of senior Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, in Istanbul, Turkey, July 31, 2024. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis/ File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
A person watches the news on multiple TV screens, most of them announcing the killing of senior Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, in Istanbul, Turkey, July 31, 2024. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis/ File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
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Qatar, Egypt Say Assassinations Damage Gaza Truce Chances

A person watches the news on multiple TV screens, most of them announcing the killing of senior Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, in Istanbul, Turkey, July 31, 2024. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis/ File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
A person watches the news on multiple TV screens, most of them announcing the killing of senior Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, in Istanbul, Turkey, July 31, 2024. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis/ File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights

Qatar and Egypt, which have acted as mediators in faltering ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas, suggested on Wednesday that the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh could further jeopardize efforts to secure a truce in Gaza.

"Political assassinations and continued targeting of civilians in Gaza while talks continue leads us to ask, how can mediation succeed when one party assassinates the negotiator on the other side?" Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani wrote on X.

"Peace needs serious partners & a global stance against the disregard for human life."

Sheikh Mohammed, who is also foreign minister, later spoke with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken over the phone and discussed continuing work towards a ceasefire.

Egypt's foreign ministry said in a statement that a "dangerous Israeli escalation policy" over the past two days had undermined efforts to broker an end to the fighting in Gaza.

"The coincidence of this regional escalation with the lack of progress in the ceasefire negotiations in Gaza increases the complexity of the situation and indicates the absence of Israeli political will to calm it down," the statement said.

"It undercuts the strenuous efforts made by Egypt and its partners to stop the war in the Gaza Strip and put an end to the human suffering of the Palestinian people," it added.

Qatar, Egypt and the United States have repeatedly tried to clinch a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian Islamist group Hamas in Gaza, where Israeli forces have killed more than 39,000 Palestinians since Hamas-led militants attacked Israel in October 7.

A final deal to halt nearly 10 months of war and release Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners has been complicated by changes sought by Israel, sources have told Reuters, and there was no sign of progress at the latest round of talks in Rome on Sunday.

 



At Least 8 People are Killed When Passenger Train Slams into Minibus in Egypt

Egyptians look at the crash of two trains that collided near the Khorshid station in Egypt's coastal city of Alexandria, Egypt August 11, 2017. REUTERS/Osama Nageb
Egyptians look at the crash of two trains that collided near the Khorshid station in Egypt's coastal city of Alexandria, Egypt August 11, 2017. REUTERS/Osama Nageb
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At Least 8 People are Killed When Passenger Train Slams into Minibus in Egypt

Egyptians look at the crash of two trains that collided near the Khorshid station in Egypt's coastal city of Alexandria, Egypt August 11, 2017. REUTERS/Osama Nageb
Egyptians look at the crash of two trains that collided near the Khorshid station in Egypt's coastal city of Alexandria, Egypt August 11, 2017. REUTERS/Osama Nageb

A train slammed into a minibus that was crossing the tracks in an unauthorized location in norther Egypt on Thursday, killing at least eight people and leaving 12 injured, the government said.

The deadly crash took place in the Suez Canal province of Ismailia, the health ministry said. More than a dozen ambulances were sent to the scene, Reuters reported.

The Egyptian railway authority said the passenger train was on its regular route when the collision occurred. The place where the minibus was crossing the railway tracks is not designated for crossing.

Local Egyptian news outlets said the victims, who included children, were all take to East Qantara Central Hospital. One child was reported to be in critical condition.

Train derailments and crashes are common in Egypt, where an aging railway system has also been plagued by mismanagement. Last October, a locomotive crashed into the tail of a Cairo-bound passenger train in southern Egypt, killing at least one person. In September, two passenger trains collided in a Nile Delta city, killing at least three people.

In recent years, the government has announced initiatives to improve its railways. President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi said in 2018 that some 250 billion Egyptian pounds, or $8.13 billion, would be needed to properly overhaul the neglected rail network.