Gaza ceasefire talks deadlocked as humanitarian crisis deepens

CAIRO/RAFA:

Hamas honored its terms of a ceasefire and hostage exchange deal with Israel on Wednesday, after the United States said truce talks in Cairo were “in the hands” of the Palestinian group.

Negotiators from Hamas, Qatar and Egypt – but not Israel – are in Cairo trying to secure a 40-day truce in the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza in time for the month of Ramadan, which begins early next week.

Urging Hamas to accept terms on the table, President Joe Biden said on Tuesday that US ally Israel was cooperating and that a “reasonable offer” had been made for a ceasefire in exchange for the release of Israeli hostages.

“It’s in the hands of Hamas right now,” Biden told reporters. “If we come to the circumstance that [fighting] continues in Ramadan… it will be very dangerous.”

Palestinian children wait to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen amid shortages in food supplies, in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, March 5, 2024. PHOTO: REUTERS

Hamas has pledged to continue participating in the Cairo talks, but Hamas officials have said there must be a ceasefire before the hostages are released, Israel must withdraw from Gaza and all Gazans must be able to return home who were forced to leave.

“We are showing the necessary flexibility to reach a comprehensive cessation of aggression against our people, but the occupation continues to evade the rights of this agreement,” Hamas said in a statement.

A source earlier said Israel stayed away from the Cairo talks because Hamas refused to provide a list of hostages still alive. Hamas says this is impossible without a ceasefire, as hostages are scattered across the war zone.

Israeli forces, which launched their assault on Gaza after Hamas’ deadly raid on Israel on October 7, have continued to shell the Palestinian enclave since talks began in Cairo on Sunday and the dire humanitarian situation in the densely populated coastal strip has further worsened. .

Also read: As Gaza hunger crisis worsens, emaciated children appear in hospitals

“Every day it costs us dozens of martyrs [dead]. We want a ceasefire now,” said Shaban Abdel-Rauf, a Palestinian electrician and father of five from Gaza City who is now in the southern city of Khan Younis. Reuters through a chat app.

Residents of Khan Younis reported hearing explosions throughout the night. Israeli warplanes struck areas of the Al-Nuseirat refugee camp and Deir Al-Balah city in central Gaza and part of the southern city of Rafah, witnesses said.

Health officials in Hamas-run Gaza said the number of people confirmed to have been killed in Israel’s attack has now surpassed 30,700, with 86 deaths reported in the past 24 hours.

Palestinian health officials later said seven people were killed when Israeli forces fired on groups in central Gaza. Israel did not immediately comment on the report and the circumstances were unclear.

Agreement on the table

A deal is sought before Ramadan because Palestinian-Israeli violence in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories often rises during the fasting month, as does hostility toward Israel in the Arab and Muslim world, creating a strong incentive for leaders to enter into an agreement before then. .

The deal offered to Hamas would free some of the hostages it is still holding after the October 7 attack, in which Israel said 1,200 people were killed and 253 kidnapped.

Aid to Gaza will increase to try to prevent starvation as hospitals treat severely malnourished children, and Hamas will provide a list of all hostages held in Gaza.

In Beirut, Hamas official Osama Hamdan said any prisoner exchange could only take place after a ceasefire.

Read: Gaza truce talks on hold as crisis and aid crisis continue

Israel just wants a pause in the fighting to remove the hostages from Gaza and more aid, and says it will not end the conflict until Hamas is “eliminated.”

Senior Hamas official Bassem Naim said Hamas presented its own draft deal and was awaiting a response from Israel and that “the ball is now in the Americans’ court.”

The United States on Tuesday revised language in a draft UN Security Council resolution to support “an immediate ceasefire of approximately six weeks in Gaza along with the release of all hostages,” according to text seen Reuters.

Displaced Palestinians try to get internet service on their phones through Egyptian networks to contact their relatives, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. PHOTO: REUTERS

The third revision of the text – first proposed by the US two weeks ago – reflects Vice President Kamala Harris’ blunt remarks urging Israel to do more to ease the “humanitarian catastrophe” in Gaza.

Echoing her comments, British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said he would warn visiting Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz on Wednesday that London’s patience had run out over the “horrific suffering” in Gaza.

Gaza Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf Al-Qidra said Wednesday that a 15-year-old girl died in a Gaza City hospital of dehydration and malnutrition, describing her as the 18th such victim in just over a week. Reuters could not verify the deaths.

Israel has said it is committed to improving the humanitarian situation in Gaza and there is no limit on aid to civilians. He blamed the United Nations for any delivery issues, saying limitations on the amount and pace of aid depended on the capacity of the UN and other agencies.