Gaza truce talks resume in Egypt, without Israel for now
PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES, (AFP) - Talks resumed in Egypt Saturday aimed at halting months of war on Gaza that have triggered protests around the world.
Mediators from Qatar, Egypt and the USA sat down with a Hamas delegation to hear the militant group's response to a proposal that would halt fighting for 40 days and exchange hostages for Palestinian prisoners, according to details released by Britain. Israel has yet to send a delegation to Cairo, with a top official telling AFP that it would do so only if there was "positive movement" on the proposed framework.
Previous negotiations stalled in part on Hamas's demand for a lasting ceasefire and Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu's repeated vows to crush the group's fighters in the southern city of Rafah, which is flooded with displaced civilians. The prospect of an Israeli assault on Rafah has sparked deepening international concern.
Israel's offensive has killed at least 34,654 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the territory's health ministry.
Gaza's civil defence agency and hospitals reported more deaths from Israeli strikes in Rafah as well as areas farther north.
The UN says more than 70 percent of Gaza's residential buildings have been completely or partly destroyed, and rebuilding will require an effort unseen since the aftermath of World War II. The WHO says 1.2 million people, half of the Gaza Strip's population, have sought refuge in Rafah.
Netanyahu's insistence on attacking Rafah was calculated to "thwart any possibility of concluding an agreement".
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned "a full-scale military operation in Rafah... could lead to a bloodbath."
UN humanitarian office spokesman Jens Laerke said an assault on Rafah could "strike a disastrous blow" to agencies struggling to provide aid.
Egypt's Al-Qahera News, which is linked to the intelligence services, quoted an unidentified high-ranking source as saying "there is significant progress in the negotiations" and that the mediators have "reached an agreed-upon formula on most points of contention".
A senior Hamas official told AFP before the talks resumed that the movement "looks with an open mind to changes in the occupation's (Israel's) position and the American position, but there are issues that must be addressed".
Senior Hamas official Hossam Badran accused Netanyahu of
trying to undermine the latest truce proposal with his threats to keep fighting with or without a deal. Badran said Netanyahu's insistence on attacking Rafah was calculated to "thwart any possibility of concluding an agreement".
The continued captivity of
Israeli hostages in Gaza has caused rising political tensions, with some protesters accusing Netanyahu of seeking to prolong the war.
Demonstrators have regularly taken to Israeli streets demanding the government reach a deal to bring the hostages home.