The prospects for a ceasefire agreement remain intertwined with the key question of whether Israel will accept an end to the war without achieving its stated goal of destroying Hamas.
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Published on May 4, 2024 • 3 minute reading
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TEL AVIV, Israel – A delegation from the Palestinian militant group Hamas was in Cairo on Saturday as Egyptian state media reported “remarkable progress” in ceasefire talks with Israel, although an Israeli official downplayed prospects of a complete end. of the war in Gaza.
Pressure has mounted to reach a deal to end the nearly seven-month war. A senior UN official says there is now a full-blown famine in northern Gaza, while Israel insists it will launch an offensive against Rafah, the territory’s southernmost city on the border with Egypt, where more than a million Palestinians.
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Egyptian and American mediators have reported signs of compromise in recent days, but prospects for a ceasefire deal remain entangled with the key question of whether Israel will accept an end to the war without achieving its stated goal of destroying Hamas. .
Egypt’s state television channel Al-Qahera News said on Saturday that a consensus had been reached on many disputed points, but gave no further details. Hamas has called for a complete end to the war and the withdrawal of all Israeli forces from Gaza.
A senior Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss continuing negotiations, downplayed prospects for a complete end to the war. The official said Israel was committed to the invasion of Rafah and would under no circumstances agree to end the war as part of a deal to free the hostages.
The proposal that Egyptian mediators had presented to Hamas sets out a three-stage process that would bring an immediate six-week ceasefire and a partial release of Israeli hostages, and would include some form of Israeli withdrawal. The initial stage would last 40 days. Hamas would begin by releasing female civilian hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
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Gershon Baskin, Middle East director for the International Communities Organization, said it appears that Hamas has accepted the framework proposed by Egypt and that Israel has already accepted it. He said that if Israel sends its top negotiators to Cairo after Saturday night ends, that would mean it is very serious.
The war has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians, according to local Gaza health officials, caused widespread destruction and plunged the territory into an unprecedented humanitarian crisis.
The conflict broke out on October 7, when Hamas attacked southern Israel, kidnapping about 250 people and killing about 1,200, mostly civilians. Israel says militants are still holding about 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. An attack on 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 were taken to local hospitals, Gaza’s Health Ministry said on Saturday. The ministry does not distinguish between combatants and civilians in its counts, but says women and children account for about two-thirds of the dead.
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The Israeli army says it has killed 13,000 militants, without providing evidence to support that claim. It has also carried out mass arrests during its raids into 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 Prisoners Club.
In related developments this week, Israel briefed Biden administration officials about plans to evacuate civilians ahead of the Rafah operation, according to US officials familiar with the conversations.
The United Nations has warned that hundreds of thousands of people would be “at imminent risk of death” if Israel advances towards the densely populated city, which is also a critical entry point for humanitarian aid.
The head of the U.N. World Food Program, Cindy McCain, said Friday that civilians trapped in the north, the most isolated part of Gaza, have sunk into famine. McCain said a ceasefire and a much greater flow of aid through land and sea routes was essential.
Israel recently opened new crossings for aid into northern Gaza, but on Wednesday Israeli settlers blocked the first convoy before it crossed into the besieged enclave. Once inside Gaza, the convoy was commandeered by Hamas militants, before UN officials recovered it.
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