Efforts to pause Israel-Hamas war gain pace amid fierce fighting
International efforts towards a new pause in the devastating Gaza war gathered pace Wednesday, as Israel bombarded the Palestinian territory during fierce fighting with Hamas militants.
Hamas was reviewing a proposal for a six-week truce in its war with Israel, a source told AFP, after mediators gathered in Paris.
While talks take place, the population of Gaza is starving to death due to constraints imposed on humanitarian aid, the World Health Organization’s emergencies director Michael Ryan said, in the latest such warning.
As Qatari- and Egyptian-led mediation efforts intensified, a Hamas official said the group’s leader Ismail Haniyeh “will be in Cairo today or tomorrow (Wednesday or Thursday)” to discuss the truce proposal.
A separate Hamas source told AFP the three-stage plan would start with an initial six-week halt to the fighting that would see more aid deliveries into the besieged Gaza Strip.
Only “women, children and sick men over 60” held by Gaza militants would be freed during that stage in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in Israel, the source said, requesting anonymity due to the sensitivity of the talks.
There would also be “negotiations around the withdrawal of Israeli forces”, with possible additional phases involving more hostage-prisoner exchanges, said the source, adding the territory’s rebuilding was also among issues addressed by the deal.
Tens of billions of dollars, and seven decades, would be required to rebuild Gaza which “currently is uninhabitable” as half its structures are damaged or destroyed, the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ruled out pulling forces from Gaza.
He has also opposed releasing “thousands” of Palestinian prisoners as part of any deal, though his office on Sunday called the talks “constructive”.
His failure to bring home the captives has led to mounting protests and calls for early elections.
Ron Dermer, an Israeli minister close to Netanyahu, is expected to meet Wednesday with US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan in Washington, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken is due for another Mideast trip in the “coming days”, a US official said.
The United States was among several top donor countries which suspended funding to the UN’s aid agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, after Israel accused several UNRWA staff members – out of the agency’s 33,000 – of involvement in the Oct 7 attack. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told a UN committee he had “met with donors to listen to their concerns and to outline the steps we are taking”.