A Hamas delegation is expected in Cairo within the next two days for further talks with Egyptian mediators as the militant group says it is considering the latest Egyptian proposal for a Gaza ceasefire and hostage-release deal “in a positive spirit”.
A Hamas official said on Thursday that while the group would not accept the current Israeli proposals without changes, they were willing to keep negotiating.
Various Hamas officials have acknowledged progress in the Israeli position, but they still seek concrete guarantees that a phased truce deal will result in an end to the war, with concrete guarantees from the Egyptian, Qatari and American mediators.
The Egyptian proposal includes a halt in fighting for at least 40 days and the release of up to 33 hostages taken in the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7th.
Israel’s security cabinet convened on Thursday night to discuss the latest developments, but Israel remains committed to attacking the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where more than a million residents fled to avoid earlier stages of Israel’s offensive on the coastal strip.
US secretary of defence Lloyd Austin told his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant on Wednesday that any potential Israeli attack on Rafah must include a credible plan to evacuate Palestinian civilians.
Mr Austin also “reaffirmed his commitment to the unconditional return of all hostages, and conveyed the importance of increasing the flow of humanitarian assistance into Gaza to flood the zone, while ensuring the safety of civilians and aid workers”, according to a Pentagon statement.
US officials say the supply of humanitarian aid into Gaza has improved in recent weeks, and White House national security spokesman John Kirby said the maritime pier constructed by the US military off the Gaza coast for the delivery of aid could be open within a matter of days.
At least 370,000 housing units in Gaza have been damaged, including 79,000 destroyed completely, according to a report by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), which estimates that even if Israel allowed a five-fold increase of construction material to enter Gaza it would take until 2040 to rebuild the destroyed houses without repairing the damaged ones.
“Unprecedented levels of human losses, capital destruction, and the steep rise in poverty in such a short period of time will precipitate a serious development crisis that jeopardises the future of generations to come,” said UNDP administrator Achim Steiner.
The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 34,500 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s assault on the strip. Israel says 1,200 people were killed and 253 hostages seized in the surprise Hamas-led attack on October 7th. It believes 133 hostages remain in Hamas captivity, but it is not known how many are alive.
Protesters, including family members of hostages held in Gaza, blocked Tel Aviv’s Ayalon motorway in both directions on Thursday, holding up signs that read: “It’s either the hostages or Rafah.”
The Gaza war has led to Israel’s growing isolation, and Turkey, a major trading partner, announced on Thursday it was halting all exports and imports with Israel.
Colombia became the latest state to announce it was cutting diplomatic relations. Israeli foreign minister Yisrael Katz accused the Colombian president of being anti-Semitic and full of hate. “History will remember that Gustavo Petro decided to side with the most despicable monsters known to mankind who burned babies, murdered children, raped women and kidnapped innocent civilians,” he said.
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