Gaza ceasefire talks in Cairo face challenges as humanitarian crisis deepens

CAIRO/JERUSALEM:

Gaza ceasefire and hostage negotiators discussed new compromise proposals in Cairo on Saturday, seeking to bridge the gap between Israel and Hamas, as the UN reported worsening humanitarian conditions, with malnutrition on the rise and polio on the rise.

Israeli military raids in Gaza killed 50 people on Saturday, Palestinian health authorities said. Victims of hostilities over the past 48 hours remain on streets where fighting continues or are trapped under rubble, authorities said.

A Hamas delegation arrived on Saturday to be closer to consider any proposals that will emerge in the main talks between Israel and the mediator countries of Egypt, Qatar and the United States, two Egyptian security sources said.

Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani is expected to attend.

Months of back-and-forth talks have so far failed to produce a breakthrough to end Israel’s devastating military campaign in Gaza or free the remaining hostages taken by Hamas in the group’s Oct. 7 attack that sparked the war.

Also read: Israel reduces ‘safe zones’ to rubble, leaves only 9.5% of Gaza for civilians

The Egyptian sources said the new proposals include compromises on outstanding points, such as how to secure key areas and the return of people to northern Gaza.

However, there has been no sign of any major progress on key points of conflict, including Israel’s insistence that it must retain control of the so-called Philadelphia Corridor, on the border between Gaza and Egypt.

Hamas has accused Israel of backtracking on things it had previously agreed to in the talks, which Israel denies. The group says the United States is not mediating in good faith.

In Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has locked horns with Israeli ceasefire negotiators over whether Israeli troops should remain along the entire Gaza-Egypt border, a person with knowledge of the talks said.

A Palestinian official familiar with the mediation efforts said it was too early to predict the outcome of the talks. “Hamas is there to discuss the outcome of the mediators’ talks with Israeli officials and whether there is enough to suggest a change in Netanyahu’s stance on reaching an agreement,” the official said.

Spread of the disease

A continuation of the war will worsen the plight of Gaza’s 2.3 million people, almost all homeless in tents or shelters amid the rubble, with malnutrition rampant and disease spreading and endangering the lives of the remaining Israeli hostages.

The October 7 attack killed 1,200 people according to Israeli estimates. Israel’s campaign in Gaza has killed more than 40,000 people, Palestinian health authorities say.

The UN humanitarian agency OCHA said in a briefing on Friday that the amount of food aid entering Gaza in July was one of the lowest since October, when Israel imposed a full siege.

OCHA said that in July the number of acutely malnourished children in northern Gaza was four times higher than in May, while in the more accessible south, where fighting is less severe, the number more than doubled.

Read: 12 Palestinians killed by Israeli shelling in Gaza

The World Health Organization said on Friday that a 10-month-old baby was paralyzed with polio, the first such case in the territory in 25 years, raising fears of a wider outbreak given the lack of proper sanitation facilities for people living in ruins.

More war also risks major new escalations, with Iran still weighing retaliation for the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on its soil last month.

Meanwhile, U.S. Air Force Gen. CQ Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, began an unannounced visit to the Middle East on Saturday to discuss ways to avoid any further escalation of tensions that could lead to a wider conflict. as the region prepares for a threatened Iranian attack on Israel.

Fighting between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah since October 7 has intensified recently, including Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa, and more Hezbollah rocket fire into northern Israel.