The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Egyptian media cite some progress in cease-fire talks
But Israeli official downplays chances of ending war as part of deal to release hostages.
TEL AVIV, ISRAEL — A delegation of the Palestinian militant group Hamas was in Cairo on Saturday as Egyptian state media reported “noticeable progress” in cease-fire talks with Israel, though an Israeli official downplayed the prospects for a full end to the war in Gaza.
Pressure has mounted to reach a deal halting the nearly seven-month war. A top U.N. official says there is now a full-blown famine in northern Gaza, while Israel insists it will launch an offensive into Rafah, the territory’s southernmost city on the border with Egypt, where more than 1 million Palestinians are sheltering.
Egyptian and U.S. mediators have reported signs of compromise in recent days, but chances for a cease-fire deal remain entangled with the key question of whether Israel will accept an end to the war without reaching its stated goal of destroying Hamas.
Egypt’s state-owned Al-Qahera News TV channel said Saturday a consensus had been reached over many disputed points but did not elaborate. Hamas has called for a complete end to the war and withdrawal of all Israeli forces from Gaza.
A senior Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss ongoing negotiations, played down the prospects for a full end to the war. The official said Israel was committed to the Rafah invasion, and it will not agree in any circumstance to end the war as part of a deal to release hostages.
The proposal Egyptian mediators put to Hamas sets out a three-stage process that would bring an immediate, six-week cease-fire and partial release of Israeli hostages, and would include some sort of Israeli pullout. The initial stage would last for 40 days. Hamas would start by releasing female civilian hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
Gershon Baskin, director for the Middle East at the International Communities Organization, said it appears Hamas has agreed to the framework Egypt proposed, and Israel has already accepted. He said if Israel sent its top negotiators to Cairo after the Sabbath ended Saturday evening, that would signify it’s very serious.
The war has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s local health officials, caused widespread destruction and plunged the territory into an unprecedented humanitarian crisis.
The conflict erupted Oct. 7, when Hamas attacked southern Israel, abducted about 250 people and killed around 1,200, mostly civilians. Israel says militants still hold around 100 hostages and the remains of more than 30 others.
Israeli strikes early Saturday on Gaza killed at least six people. Three bodies were recovered from the rubble of a building in Rafah and taken to Yousef Al Najjar hospital. A strike in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza killed three people, according to hospital officials.
In the past 24 hours, the bodies of 32 people killed by Israeli strikes have been brought to local hospitals, Gaza’s Health Ministry said Saturday. The ministry does not distinguish between fighters and civilians in its tallies but says women and children make up around two-thirds of those killed.
The Israeli military says it has killed 13,000 militants, without providing evidence to back up the claim. It has also conducted mass arrests during its raids inside Gaza.
Gaza’s Health Ministry urged the International Criminal Court to investigate the death in Israeli custody of a Gaza surgeon. Adnan al-Borsh, 50, was working at al-Awda Hospital when Israeli troops stormed it in December, detaining him and others inside, according to the Palestinian Prisoner’s Club.
The director of the U.N. World Food Program, Cindy McCain, said Friday trapped civilians in the north, the most cutoff part of Gaza, have plunged into famine. McCain said a cease-fire and a greatly increased flow of aid through land and sea routes was essential.