Hostages’ families push for release
Death toll in Gaza exceeds 30,000 as aid groups warn of ‘imminent’ famine
JERUSALEM/GAZA — The families of hostages held in Gaza and their supporters are launching a four-day march in Israel to demand their loved ones be set free, as the death toll in Gaza exceeds 30,000.
Video footage showed them marching with posters and T-shirts bearing printed images of their relatives, chanting “Now! Now! Now!” They are expected to arrive in Jerusalem on Saturday.
“No one can be left behind,” Ronen Neutra, father of one of the hostages, said in a speech along the march.
According to Israeli figures, a total of 134 people are still being held by Hamas, and at least 35 of them are believed to be dead.
The march comes as negotiations are underway in Qatar to bring about a deal between Hamas and Israel that would lead to a cease-fire in exchange for the release of hostages. US President Joe Biden has said such a deal was at hand but officials from Israel and Hamas were skeptical about it.
Negotiators from the United States, Egypt and Qatar are working on a framework deal under which Hamas would free some of the dozens of hostages it holds in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners and a six-week halt in fighting. During the temporary pause, negotiations would continue over the release of the remaining hostages.
Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh said on Wednesday the group was showing flexibility in negotiations with Israel over the Gaza conflict but at the same time was ready to continue fighting.
In a televised speech, Haniyeh also called on Palestinians in Jerusalem and the West Bank to march to Al-Aqsa Mosque to pray on the first day of Ramadan on March 10, raising the stakes in the indirect talks for a truce deal to come into force by then.
The US on Wednesday urged Israel to allow Muslims to worship at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem during Ramadan.
Last week, Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said Palestinian residents of the West Bank “should not be allowed” entry into Jerusalem to pray during Ramadan.
The health ministry in Gaza said on Thursday that more than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed in the enclave since the fighting between the militant group and Israel began nearly five months ago.
A strike early on Thursday on a crowd of Palestinians waiting for humanitarian aid in Gaza City killed at least 70 people, health officials said.
On Wednesday, Israeli tanks and planes pounded northern Gaza, residents said, months after the army declared Hamas was defeated there, and the government pledged to settle more Israelis among Palestinians in the West Bank, another hurdle to a peace deal.
Humanitarian catastrophe
The conflict has unleashed a humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza and sparked global concern over the situation in Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost town along the border with Egypt, where 1.4 million Palestinians have sought safety from Israel’s daily bombardments.
The crucial city is the main entry point for aid crossing the border from Egypt.
But the World Food Programme said no humanitarian group had been able to deliver aid to the north for more than a month, accusing Israel of blocking access.
Neighboring Jordan has coordinated efforts to airdrop supplies over southern Gaza.
“If nothing changes, a famine is imminent in northern Gaza,” the World Food Programme’s Deputy Executive Director Carl Skau said.
Israeli officials have denied blocking supplies, and the army on Wednesday said “50 trucks carrying humanitarian aid” had made it to northern Gaza in recent days.
Children have died “due to malnutrition, dehydration and widespread famine” at Gaza City’s AlShifa hospital, said the health ministry, whose spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra has called for “immediate action” from international organizations to prevent more of these deaths.