LAST UPDATE | 3 Mar
MEDIATORS IN CAIRO have made a renewed push for a Gaza ceasefire, but differences remained today as fighting raged on in the Palestinian territory gripped by desperate food shortages.
US, Qatari and Hamas envoys travelled to Cairo in Egypt for the latest effort towards a six-week truce, stepped-up aid deliveries and the exchange of hostages for Palestinian prisoners.
But sticking points remained, including a Hamas demand that the Israeli armed forces entirely withdraw from the Gaza Strip after almost five months of devastating war.
And Israel, which has so far announced no plans to join the Egypt talks, has demanded Hamas provide it with a list of all 130 remaining captives, including more than 30 it fears are dead.
Despite the latest push to halt the fighting sparked by Hamas’s 7 October attack on Israel, Israeli bombing and urban combat again rocked Gaza, home to 2.4 million people, most of whom have been displaced.
Another 90 Palestinians were killed within 24 hours, said Hamas-ruled Gaza’s health ministry, which put the war’s overall death toll at 30,410, mostly women and children.
Negotiations
A senior Hamas official told AFP that a delegation from the Palestinian group would discuss with mediators the proposal for the six-week truce, after a US official said Israel had broadly accepted its terms.
All sides have been scrambling to lock in a truce before Ramadan, the Muslim fasting month that begins on 10 or 11 March.
The Hamas official said that if Israel were to meet its demands – which have included a military withdrawal from Gaza and stepped-up humanitarian aid – this would “pave the way for an agreement within the next 24-48 hours”.
Two of those killed in the last 24 hours include twin babies Naeem and Wissam Abu Anza, who were buried today, an AFP photographer said.
In a sign of the worsening humanitarian crisis in the narrow coastal territory, ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said at least 16 children had died of malnutrition in recent days as “famine spreads” in the north.
As Gaza faces dwindling deliveries of relief supplies across its land borders, Israel’s top ally the United States carried out a first airdrop, joining several Arab and European government that have parachuted in aid since November.
However, officials and aid groups have said such operations are limited in scope and cannot replace overland aid access.
Unicef chief Catherine Russell said that for children in Gaza, “every minute counts in safely accessing nutrition, water, medical care and protection from bullets and bombs”.
“This requires a humanitarian ceasefire now.”
Severe malnutrition can be deadly or leave young children with permanent cognitive & physical damage.
— Catherine Russell (@unicefchief) March 2, 2024
For children in Gaza, every minute counts in safely accessing nutrition, water, medical care & protection from bullets & bombs.
This requires a humanitarian ceasefire NOW.
The Hamas official said the group would demand “the entry of at least 400 to 500 trucks per day” carrying food, medicine and fuel as part of a truce deal.
The US official, speaking to reporters last night, said “there’s a framework deal” for a ceasefire which could start “today if Hamas agrees to release” elderly, women and ill hostages.
Israel had yet to confirm that it has accepted the truce plan or whether it would attend the Cairo talks.
The United States regards Hamas as a “terrorist” organisation, and in previous talks Egyptian officials have acted as intermediaries.
Osama Hamdan, a Lebanon-based Hamas official, told Qatar’s Al-Araby TV that the group insisted on a complete, rather than “temporary”, ceasefire and on “ending the aggression against our people”.
The United Nations has warned of famine in Gaza, and more than 100 people were left dead earlier this week after Israeli forces opened fire on a crowd scrambling for food from a truck convoy delivering aid.
The Gaza health ministry said Israeli forces shot civilians, but the Israeli army insisted most died in a stampede or crush.
In a statement yesterday, the UN Security Council stressed “the need to take all necessary measures to protect civilians” and urged “the immediate, rapid, safe, sustained and unhindered delivery of humanitarian assistance at scale”.
Several foreign leaders have called for an investigation into the aid truck storming.
Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari claimed an initial review “has indicated that following the warning shots fired to disperse the stampede” several people “approached our forces and posed an immediate threat to them”.
Troops then fired “towards several individuals”, Hagari said.
He added that an “independent” army body would launch an investigation and vowed “transparency”.
The aid convoy deaths pushed the conflict’s death toll in Gaza to at least 30,410, mostly women and children, the health ministry said today.
Tánaiste Micheál Martin on Friday described the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip as “man made and completely unacceptable”, in reference to the conduct of the Israeli military since October.
In a post on X yesterday, Martin said he was “appalled by the horrible deaths of Palestinians queueing for aid in Gaza city”.
“International humanitarian law is unambiguous – Israel as occupying power must protect civilians & ensure basic services,” he said.
Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald called on Friday for an “immediate ceasefire” in Gaza, telling a summit in the US that those in the region are enduring “unimaginable suffering”.
The conflict began on 7 October with an unprecedented Hamas attack on southern Israel that resulted in the deaths of about 1,160 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official figures.
Gaza militants also abducted 250 hostages, of whom 130 remain in captivity according to Israel, a figure that includes 31 presumed dead.
Several dozen captives were released in exchange for Palestinians held by Israel during a one-week truce in November.
Includes reporting by © AFP 2024
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