In order to discuss a ceasefire that would end nearly five months of violence in Gaza before to the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan early next week, international mediators met with Hamas negotiators in Cairo on Tuesday.
On the third day of talks, representatives from the US and the Palestinian militant group were scheduled to meet with Egyptian and Qatari mediators to discuss a six-week ceasefire, the release of hundreds of Palestinian detainees in exchange for the remaining hostages, and boosting aid to Gaza.
Israeli negotiators have so far stayed away from the talks, despite growing diplomatic pressure for a truce to take effect before Ramadan.Israeli media reported that the country’s negotiating team boycotted the talks after Hamas did not provide a list of living hostages.
Senior Hamas figure Bassem Naim told AFP that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was to responsible for impeding the negotiations, adding that the “ball is in their court” and that the US should end the war before Ramadan.
According to Israel, 31 of the 250 prisoners that Hamas captured in the October attack that started the conflict are believed to have been killed, while 130 are still believed to be in Gaza.
As conditions in the besieged Palestinian territory deteriorate and the spectre of famine looms, Israel has faced increasingly sharp rebukes from its top ally the United States.
Vice President Kamala Harris expressed “deep concern about the humanitarian conditions in Gaza” during talks in Washington on Monday with Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz.
The same day, the World Health Organization said an aid mission to two hospitals in northern Gaza had found children dying of starvation, amid dire shortages of food, fuel and medicines.
“The lack of food resulted in the deaths of 10 children,” said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus after the UN agency visited the Al-Awda and Kamal Adwan hospitals over the weekend.
Authorities reported numerous Israeli airstrikes close to the European Hospital in Hamad, which is close to Khan Yunis, the main city in southern Gaza, as the fighting in the Gaza Strip continued.
The Israeli army declared that it was carrying out targeted operations in Hamad and that it had apprehended numerous fighters from Islamic Jihad and Hamas who were concealed among civilians.
The army reported that in the last 24 hours, its jets had hit 50 Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip.
In the Hamas-controlled area, the health ministry reported that 97 individuals had died over night, the most of whom being women and children.
Residents of Khan Yunis reported seeing decaying corpses strewn along streets dotted with demolished residences and businesses.
“We want to eat and live. Take a look at our homes. How am I to blame, a single, unarmed person without any income in this impoverished country?” asked Nader Abu Shanab, pointing to the rubble with blackened hands.
