Gaza truce talks enter fourth day after US urges speedy deal
GAZA STRIP, Palestinian
Territories: International mediators were set for a fourth day of talks with Hamas in Cairo on Wednesday after US President Joe Biden called on the militant group to agree a truce deal with Israel by the start of Ramadan.
Envoys have discussed plans to halt the fighting that has raged since Hamas’s Oct 7 attack before the Muslim fasting month starts on Sunday or Monday, depending on the sighting of the full moon.
As famine threatens the besieged Gaza Strip, US and Jordanian planes again airdropped food aid into the territory of 2.4 million people in a joint operation with Egypt and France on Tuesday.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has reported children dying of starvation in two northern Gaza hospitals, and US Vice-President Kamala Harris has expressed “deep concern about the humanitarian conditions in Gaza”.
Envoys from Hamas and the United States have been meeting Qatari and Egyptian mediators in Cairo to discuss a plan for a six-week truce, the exchange of dozens of remaining hostages for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, and a greater flow of aid to Gaza.
Egypt’s Al-Qahera News, which is close to the country’s intelligence services, said the talks would continue Wednesday.
Biden warned Hamas to quickly agree to a truce and hostage release deal after his top diplomat Antony Blinken urged the group to accept an “immediate ceasefire”.
The Israeli government said Tuesday it would allow Muslim worshippers access to the mosque compound in annexed east Jerusalem “in similar numbers to those in previous years”.
Israeli negotiators have so far stayed away from the Cairo talks, with Israeli media reporting that they boycotted them after Hamas failed to provide a list of living hostages.
Senior Hamas leader Bassem Naim said details on the captives had not been “mentioned in any documents or proposals circulated during the negotiation process”.
“The Hamas movement has shown the required flexibility with the aim of reaching an agreement requiring a comprehensive cessation of aggression against our people,” the Islamist group said in a statement.