Hamas spokesman denies group is proposing cease-fire

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — A spokesman for Hamas is rejecting the claim by a senior PLO official who said he was speaking in the name of Hamas when he proposed a 24-hour humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza.

The cease-fire offer was made by the Palestine Liberation Organization, of which Hamas is not a member. But the PLO’s secretary-general said the offer came after consultations with Hamas and Islamic Jihad, a smaller militant group in Gaza.

A Hamas spokesman in Gaza says the remarks “are not true and have nothing to do with the positions of the factions at the moment.” But it’s not clear if the spokesman reflected the views of the Hamas leadership in exile.

In Gaza, a health official says at least 100 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli airstrikes and tank shelling today, as Israel escalates its military campaign. There have been several instances in which the daily Gaza death toll in more than three weeks of fighting has surpassed 100.

Israel has lost 53 soldiers, along with two civilians and a Thai national.

A spokesman for Gaza’s electricity distribution company says Gaza’s power plant was forced to shut down today after two tank shells hit one of three fuel tanks. He says the damage will take months to repair.

%@AP Links

134-a-08-(Jeremy Greenstock, former British ambassador to U.N., in interview)-“continuation of settlements”-Jeremy Greenstock, a former British U.N. ambassador, says Palestinians in Gaza believe they have little choice but to support Hamas. COURTESY: Sky News ((mandatory on-air credit)) (29 Jul 2014)

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126-a-17-(Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner, spokesman, Israel Defense Forces, in AP interview)-“sever those capabilities”-Israel Defense Forces spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner says the I.D.F. purposefully hit the home of the top Hamas leader in Gaza, as well as government offices and the headquarters of the Hamas satellite TV station. (29 Jul 2014)

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APPHOTO XAH111: Smoke and flames rise from a burning fuel tank of Gaza’s power plant after it was hit by Israeli strikes in the Nusseirat Refugee Camp, central Gaza Strip,Tuesday, July 29, 2014. Israel escalated its military campaign against Hamas on Tuesday, striking symbols of the group’s control in Gaza and firing tank shells that shut down the strip’s only power plant in the heaviest bombardment in the fighting so far. The plant’s shutdown was bound to lead to further serious disruptions of the flow of electricity and water to Gaza’s 1.7 million people. (AP Photo/Adel Hana) (29 Jul 2014)

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