Israeli troops to go north as truce pushed
PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES: Israel’s army was preparing to shift some of its forces from the Gaza Strip to the restive Lebanese border, as international mediators pushed for a new deal to halt its war with Hamas.
With Gazans already facing dire humanitarian conditions, the United Nations’ chief was set to meet on Tuesday with key donors who paused funding after members of the organization’s Palestinian refugee agency were accused of taking part in the October 7 attacks that sparked the war.
Israeli ground forces backed by tanks have been focused on Khan Younis, the home city of Hamas’ Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar, where the Palestine Red Crescent Society reported artillery fire around the Al-Amal Hospital overnight.
Sinwar’s office, military sites and “a significant rocket manufacturing facility” were raided by troops, the Israeli military said.
Chief spokesman Daniel Hagari said on Monday the Israeli military had “eliminated over 2,000 terrorists above and below ground” in the Khan Younis area, without offering evidence.
Israeli strikes across the besieged Gaza Strip killed 128 people overnight, the Health Ministry in the Hamas-run territory said early on Tuesday.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said on Monday night that some units in Gaza were “moving up to the north and preparing for what’s to come” — a reference to the Israeli-Lebanese border, where there have been almost daily exchanges
of fire with Iran-backed Hezbollah militants aligned with Hamas.
Truce talks
In the latest efforts to broker a new truce, Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns met top Israeli, Egyptian and Qatari officials in France’s capital Paris on Sunday.
Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, who attended the talks, said on Monday that “good progress” had been made and that the parties were “hoping to relay this proposal to Hamas and to get them to a place where they engage positively and constructively in the process.”
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed hope for the deal.
“Very important, productive work has been done. And there is some real hope going forward,” Blinken
told reporters after the Paris talks.
Sheikh Mohammed confirmed that the framework discussed in Paris — which he said might lead to a permanent ceasefire — included a phased truce that would see female and child hostages released first, with aid also entering Gaza.
A senior Hamas official, Taher al-Nunu, said the Islamist group wanted a “complete and comprehensive ceasefire, not a temporary truce.” It was not immediately clear if Hamas officials had received the text of the Qatari proposal.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office has called the Paris talks “constructive,” but pointed to “significant gaps which the parties will continue to discuss.”
‘Die of hunger’
Hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced in Gaza and rely on scarce aid, but there are fears of further shortages because of the rift between Israel and the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, or UNRWA.
At least 12 countries — with top donors United States and Germany joined by New Zealand on Tuesday — have suspended their funding over Israeli claims that some UNRWA staff members were involved in the October 7 attacks.
An UNRWA source, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the issue’s sensitivity, told Agence France-Presse (AFP) it would be “a major disaster” if donors insisted on stopping their support.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who has pleaded for continued financial support to meet “dire needs,” was to meet donors in New York on Tuesday, his office said, as investigations into Israel’s allegations continue.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz canceled a meeting with UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini and said on social media: “Supporters of terrorism are not welcome here.”
In the southern Gazan city of Rafah, where 1.5 million displaced people have taken refuge, some told AFP the UN support was a lifeline.
“We live on aid from UNRWA,” said Sabah Musabih, 50. “If it stopped, we would die of hunger.”