Israel to resume truce talks
Sides will again attempt to reach deal as war rages
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel will return to the table for ceasefire talks with Hamas.
Friday’s announcement marks yet another attempt to reach a deal to pause Israel’s devastating war in Gaza against Hamas in exchange for the release of Israeli hostages. Efforts by the United States, Qatar and Egypt to negotiate a ceasefire appear stalled as the war grinds through its sixth month.
Hamas has previously suggested a phased release of all remaining hostages in return for an end to the war and full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, the opening of its borders for aid and reconstruction, and the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, including top militants serving life sentences.
Netanyahu has called these conditions delusional, and says that after any hostage release, Israel will keep fighting until Hamas is destroyed.
Hamas is believed to be holding roughly 100 hostages, as well as the remains of about 30 people killed in the group’s Oct. 7 attack or who died in captivity. Some 1,200 people were killed in Israel during the surprise attack, which triggered the current conflict.
Israel’s war in Gaza has killed more than 32,000 people and wounded 74,000, according to the territory’s Health Ministry. The ministry doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants in its tally, but says women and children make up two-thirds of the dead.
The UN has reported that 100 per cent of Gaza’s 2.3 million people are at severe levels of food insecurity.
Aid deliveries have been impeded by Israeli military restrictions, ongoing hostilities and the breakdown of public order, according to the UN and international aid groups.
In other developments:
■ Israeli police have violently dispersed a small group of antiwar protesters in Jerusalem. Friday’s gathering of about 50 demonstrators holding signs calling for a ceasefire quickly devolved into scuffles between demonstrators and officers as police attempted to wrestle megaphones and posters out of demonstrators’ grasp. Amateur video showed police punching at least one protester in his side while kneeling on his legs. Officers arrested five people, including a journalist, the police said.
■ An Israeli airstrike killed at least 12 people when it slammed into a residential building late Thursday in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, which is overflowing with displaced civilians, according to health officials. Two children and four women were among the dead pulled from the rubble, said Dr. Saleh al-Hams, the head of the nursing department at the European Hospital. Eight of the bodies, including two mangled and unidentifiable corpses, were transferred to the European Hospital. Israeli forces have continued to bombard areas where they told civilians to take shelter — including Rafah.
■ In a legally binding order, the top United Nations court says Israel must open more land crossings into Gaza for food, water, fuel and other supplies. The International Court of Justice issued two new so-called provisional measures Thursday in a case brought by South Africa accusing Israel of acts of genocide in its war in Gaza — charges Israel strongly denies. The UN has reported that 100 per cent of Gaza’s 2.3 million people are at severe levels of food insecurity.
■ In the West Bank, Israeli authorities say an attacker wounded three people Thursday after opening fire at several vehicles on a main route in the territory. The military says it’s still searching for the shooter. Tensions in the West Bank have surged since the start of the war in Gaza, which has killed more than 32,000 people and wounded 74,000, according to the Gaza’s Health Ministry. The ministry doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants in its tally, but says women and children make up two-thirds of the dead. Some 1,200 people were killed in Israel and another 250 people abducted when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel, triggering the war in Gaza.