Palestinian sources reported that the Hamas movement decided to freeze any talks with mediators about a ceasefire in Gaza and to reach a prisoner exchange deal with the Israeli occupation authorities, following the assassination of the movement’s leader, Saleh Al-Arouri.

An informed Palestinian source said, on Tuesday evening, that the Hamas movement informed the mediators of its decision to freeze all discussions about a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip or a prisoner exchange deal with Israel. This came in a brief statement reported by Anadolu Agency.

This decision came a few hours after Israel assassinated the deputy head of the Hamas political bureau, Saleh Al-Arouri, and two leaders of the Al-Qassam Brigades, in the Lebanese capital, Beirut.

Before the assassination on Tuesday afternoon, the head of the Hamas political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, said in a recorded speech that his movement responded positively to the offers made by Egypt and Qatar regarding a ceasefire in Gaza, and conveyed to them its vision in this regard.

Egypt and Qatar, along with the United States, are sponsoring efforts to reach a truce in the Gaza Strip and a prisoner exchange deal between Hamas and the occupation authorities.

Earlier, Israel assassinated Al-Arouri and two leaders of the Al-Qassam Brigades in a bombing in the southern suburb of the capital, Beirut.

The official Lebanese news agency reported that “a hostile Israeli drone targeted a Hamas office in the Musharrafieh area, resulting in the death of 6 persons.”

Hamas confirmed the assassination of Al-Arouri and two leaders of the Al-Qassam Brigades (it did not name them), the armed wing of the movement. Sources close to the movement reported that the two Al-Qassam leaders who were killed with Al-Arouri were Samir Fandi and Azzam Al-Aqra’.

Hamas leader Izzat al-Rishq denounced “the cowardly assassinations carried out by the Zionist occupation against the leaders and symbols of our Palestinian people inside and outside Palestine,” according to the movement’s website.

Before the outbreak of war in the Gaza Strip, Israeli officials and media accused Al-Arouri of being involved in planning operations against the army and settlers in the West Bank, calling for his assassination.

On October 31, the Israeli occupation army blew up Al-Arouri’s house in the town of Aroura near Ramallah, in the West Bank, days after a large-scale operation against Hamas in the village and turning the house into an interrogation center for them.