With Gaza facing ‘famine,’ cease-fire remains elusive
Hamas leader’s call for march adds to urgency
A top Hamas official Wednesday appeared to raise the stakes for a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip, saying the militant group was ready to continue fighting and calling on Palestinians to defy Israeli restrictions and march to the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem to pray at the start of Ramadan.
In a televised speech, Hamas’s political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, said the group was open to indirect negotiations with Israel, but that “any flexibility we show in the negotiation process is a commitment to protecting the blood of our people, matched by a readiness to defend them.”
He called on Palestinians in Jerusalem and the Israeli-occupied West Bank to march to the al-Aqsa mosque when the Muslim holy month of Ramadan begins around March 10. That creates the prospect of clashes between Palestinians and Israeli security forces around the mosque, one of the holiest sites in Islam and a longtime flashpoint in relations with Israel. Israel has restricted access to the mosque for West Bank Palestinians, and has severely limited movement within the West Bank since the start of the war.
Matthew Miller, a State Department spokesperson, declined on Wednesday to comment on Haniyeh’s call for a march to the mosque, which is part of a 35-acre site that is also holy for Jews, who call it the Temple Mount.
“I would just say, as it pertains to al-Aqsa, we continue to urge Israel to facilitate access to Temple Mount for peaceful worshippers during Ramadan, consistent with past practice, and that’ll continue to be our position,” Miller said.
President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi of Egypt, which is helping to broker the indirect talks between Israel and Hamas, expressed hope for a breakthrough, saying that, “God willing, in the next few days, we will reach a cease-fire agreement” to bring “real relief ” to the people of Gaza. His comments echoed President Biden’s prediction earlier in the week that a deal to pause the war and free the remaining hostages in Gaza could come as soon as Monday.
In a briefing Wednesday, Israel’s defense minister, Yoav Gallant, said he was reluctant to comment on Biden’s forecast.
“I really hope he’s right,” Gallant said.
He spoke as Israel faces mounting international pressure to stop its devastating military offensive and increasing domestic pressure to secure the release of the hostages seized by Hamas and its allies during the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, which killed at least 1,200 people, according to Israeli officials.
Without a breakthrough, the death toll from Israel’s military campaign in Gaza is nearing 30,000, according to the territory’s health officials, and civilians and aid groups have described food shortages so dire that people were turning to leaves and bird food and other types of animal feed for sustenance.
“Our lives have become very miserable,” said Aseel al-Louh, 23, a university student in Deir al Balah in central Gaza, who said she had lost 24 pounds since the war began.
Aid groups and Palestinians said that the lack of food was particularly acute in Gaza’s northern and central areas, where the United Nations and relief agencies said they have been struggling to deliver even small amounts of supplies amid Israel’s military campaign.
UN humanitarian official Ramesh Rajasingham said Tuesday that at least a quarter of Gaza’s residents were “one step away from famine,” and one in six children under 2 in northern Gaza was suffering from acute malnutrition.