GAZA TALKS FALTER WITH BOTH SIDES DEPARTING FROM CAIRO
▶ Dozens of bodies found in third mass grave near Al Shifa Hospital
Delegates from Israel and Hamas have left Cairo after talks mediated by the US, Egypt and Qatar were unable to secure an agreement to pause hostilities in Gaza.
Hamas said Israel’s military operation in Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost city, and its seizure of the Palestinian side of the city’s border crossing with Egypt were “aimed at cutting off the path of the mediators, escalating the aggression and the genocide war”.
“We in Hamas would like to reassert our commitment and adherence to our position of accepting the proposals presented by the mediators,” the group added.
This came after CIA chief William Burns returned to Cairo late on Wednesday to rejoin the talks, having made a brief visit to Israel as negotiators argued over key details of the proposed agreement.
Mr Burns met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday, Israeli media reported, and told him that an agreement with Hamas was still possible.
Mr Burns later held a lengthy discussion with Egyptian officials to relay Israel’s position on the talks, sources told The National on Thursday.
Hamas has said it is willing to release up to 20 of the hostages held in Gaza, one at a time, over the first 42 days of the truce.
Israel, however, is adamant that at least 33 hostages – all living – should be freed in the first phase of the proposed deal, the sources said.
Hamas also wants to ensure a permanent ceasefire is included in any agreement.
About 80,000 people have been forcibly displaced from eastern parts of Rafah since Israel issued an evacuation order on Monday, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees said on Thursday.
Over the past week, Israel has intensified its attacks on the city, where more than a million displaced Palestinians have taken refuge since the war broke out in October last year. Rafah is the only major urban area in the enclave that has not yet been subjected to a fullscale Israeli incursion.
Global leaders, including many of Israel’s western allies, have warned that such an operation in the densely packed city would carry a high risk of civilian casualties.
On Wednesday, US President Joe Biden hinted that he could limit the supply of American munitions to Israel if the planned incursion goes ahead.
“I made it clear that if they go into Rafah … I’m not supplying the weapons,” Mr Biden said during an interview with CNN.
Residents and medics in Rafah said Israeli tank fire had killed three and injured several people near a mosque in the east of the city.
Meanwhile a third mass grave, containing at least 49 bodies, has been discovered near Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza city, which was once the enclave’s biggest medical complex but has been completely destroyed by the Israeli military.
Local authorities said the dead were medical, nursing and administrative staff who were working at the hospital.
Hamas demanded international attention be paid to the discovery, which the group called a “horror that has exceeded the limits of human imagination”.
“Recovery operations are still ongoing,” Gaza’s Hamas-run government media office said. “We are expecting to find dozens of new bodies.”
Hundreds of patients and displaced people were killed during Israeli operations at Al Shifa, it added.
Seven mass graves containing 520 bodies have been found on hospital grounds around Gaza – three at Al Shifa, one at Kamal Adwan in the north of the enclave, and three at Al Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis.
Last month, at least 300 bodies were found at Al Nasser, which has been severely damaged during several raids by Israeli troops.
Israeli forces began bombing Gaza city’s Al Zeitoun district, killing and wounding dozens, residents told The National.
Thousands of Palestinians were forced to flee their homes in the northern city.
And as tanks drove into the south-east of the enclave, Israeli helicopters opened fire.
It came as Israeli units lined up tanks and fired close to built-up areas of Rafah.
The southern city is hosting more than 1.4 million displaced Palestinians and is the only major urban area in Gaza that has not yet been invaded by the Israeli army.
Many Al Zeitoun residents left their homes at about 2am on Thursday, Mahmoud Bassal, a civil defence official in northern Gaza, told The National.
“As Israeli troops moved towards Al Zeitoun, they continued shelling houses,” he said.
“Israeli planes conducted approximately 20 air strikes, causing fear among the people who began evacuating immediately.”
Many left their homes without knowing where to go, he said, adding that air strikes hit junctions, making it difficult for people to leave the area.
“We received around 12 calls from residents asking for help and requesting evacuation,” Mr Bassal said.
“Unfortunately, we couldn’t do anything because there is no co-ordination between us and the Israeli army.” Witnesses said Israeli vehicles hit the southern areas of Street 8 and Ali Mosque.
The bombing killed dozens and wounded several people, Palestinian news agency Wafa reported, quoting medical staff.
Many bodies had yet to be retrieved from under the rubble of destroyed homes.
Residents and medics in Rafah said Israeli tank fire killed three people and wounded several near a mosque in the east of the city, local media reported.
They also said a helicopter opened fire, while drones hovered above houses in several areas, some close to roofs.
A UN official said no fuel or aid had entered Gaza due to the offensive, Reuters reported.
In Deir Al Balah, central Gaza, medics said a man and a woman were killed when an Israeli drone struck a group of people.
The area is crowded with thousands of displaced civilians who fled Rafah after Israel began its ground attack. The assault came despite US President Joe Biden saying America would stop providing Israel with weapons if it launched a major invasion of Rafah.
Washington is by far the biggest supplier of arms to Israel, and it increased deliveries after the Hamas attacks on Israel in early October.
On Wednesday, US officials said America last week paused the delivery of heavy arms to Israel, including 2,000-pound and 500-pound bombs, because of the risk to civilians in Gaza.
Gilad Erdan, Israel’s ambassador to the UN, said Washington’s decision to pause some weapons deliveries would significantly impair Israel’s ability to expel Hamas from Gaza, Israeli public radio reported.
Israel says Hamas militants are hiding in Rafah and it needs to eliminate them for its own security.
The war has driven about 80 per cent of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents from their homes and destroyed houses, hospitals, mosques and schools.
More than 34,900 Palestinians have been killed since the war began on October 7, after Hamas-led groups attacked southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking about 240 hostages.
Gazan health authorities say that more than 78,500 people have been injured since the start of the conflict.
Israel says Hamas is still holding about 100 hostages and the remains of more than 30.
Israeli planes conducted approximately 20 air strikes, causing fear among the people who began evacuating MAHMOUD BASSAL Gaza civil defence official