Hamas denies collapse of truce talks with Israel

A senior Hamas official denied on Tuesday that Egyptian-brokered talks on reconciliation with the Palestinian Authority and a lasting truce with Israel have collapsed. “The efforts of our Egyptian brothers continue… We in Hamas are responsive to these ongoing efforts,” spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told AFP. Egypt has for months been seeking to broker two separate deals. One would bring Hamas and president Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party together a decade after a bloody split, and another would see a lasting truce between Hamas and Israel in exchange for a loosening of the Jewish state’s blockade of the Gaza Strip. UN officials have also been involved in the indirect discussions between Gaza’s Hamas and Israel, which have fought three wars since 2008.