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04-03-2024
GAZA CITY/ CAIRO: Mediators and Hamas have arrived in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, for talks on a new ceasefire, as Israel is reported to be demanding reassurances on the hostages’ fate before attending.
An unnamed US official has said Israel has “more or less accepted” the deal but Israeli media say Hamas is refusing to confirm which of its hostages are still alive, so Israel will not attend.
The US says the six-week pause would see the release of more Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners.
Pressure for a deal intensified after Thursday’s incident outside Gaza City in the north of the territory where at least 112 people were killed as crowds rushed an aid convoy.
Hamas has accused Israel of shooting at civilians as they attempted to get food. Israel has denied this.
On Sunday, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman Rear Adm Daniel Hagari said an initial review had been completed “of the unfortunate incident where Gazan civilians were trampled to death and injured as they charged to the aid convoy.
“Our initial review has confirmed that no strike was carried out by the IDF towards the aid convoy,” he said. “Several looters approached our forces and posed an immediate threat to them.”
He said a full investigation would be conducted by “an independent, professional and expert body” of the army, and updates would be shared in the coming days.
Hamas is reported to have said that an agreement on a truce could be reached within the next 24 to 48 hours, with a source from the group telling Egyptian media a deal depended on Israel agreeing to its demands.
Egyptian officials, who have been running the talks with Qatar, said delegations from both Hamas and Israel were expected to attend the negotiations.
Expectations of a deal were raised after a senior US official said Israel for its part had “basically agreed” a framework for a six-week ceasefire.
The Israel military launched a large-scale air and ground campaign to destroy Hamas after its gunmen killed about 1,200 people in southern Israel on 7 October and took 253 back to Gaza as hostages.
Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry says at least 30,410 people, including 21,000 children and women, have been killed in Gaza since then with some 7,000 missing and 71,700 injured.
Calls for ceasefire come as aid organisations have warned there is a risk of famine in northern Gaza. Jan Egeland, head of the Norwegian Refugee Council, has just returned from a three-day visit to the territory. (Int’l Monitoring Desk)
