image source, EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock
The fighting has reduced much of Gaza to rubble, with many of the victims being women and children.
US Vice President Kamala Harris said the people of Gaza were “starving” and called on Israel to “significantly increase the flow of aid” to the strip.
“We need an immediate ceasefire for at least the next six weeks,” she said. [Israeli] A hostage came out. ”
Earlier, Israel claimed Hamas had not presented a list of surviving hostages and did not attend ceasefire talks in Egypt.
Hamas told the BBC it was unable to do so because of Israeli bombing.
“It is virtually impossible to know who is still alive,” said Dr. Bassem Naim, a senior Hamas official.
A Hamas team and mediators from the United States and Qatar are believed to be in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, for scheduled negotiations.
Pressure for a ceasefire intensified after Thursday's attack on the outskirts of Gaza City in the northern Palestinian enclave. In the incident, at least 112 people were killed when crowds rushed into support convoys and Israeli forces opened fire.
Speaking at an event in Alabama on Sunday, Harris said: “What we see every day in Gaza is a tragedy, with families eating leaves and animal feed, mostly women. Malnourished babies are being delivered without medical care, and children are dying from malnutrition and dehydration.
“As I have said many times, too many innocent Palestinians were killed.”
Kamala Harris speaks at an event honoring US civil rights protesters in Alabama.
The vice president stressed that “our common humanity compels us to act” and reiterated President Joe Biden's determination to “urgently provide additional life-saving assistance to innocent Palestinians in need.” repeated.
On Monday, Harris is scheduled to meet in Washington with Benny Gantz, a ranking member of Israel's war cabinet, to discuss a possible ceasefire and expanding humanitarian aid to Gaza.
“A deal is on the table, and as we have said, Hamas needs to agree to that deal. Let's get a ceasefire, reunite the hostages with their families, and provide immediate relief to the people of Gaza,” Harris said. Let's do it.''
He also said: “The Israeli government must do more to significantly increase aid flows. There are no excuses.”
She was speaking in Selma, Alabama, at an event commemorating the 1965 attack by state troopers on civil rights demonstrators known as Bloody Sunday.
After Hamas militants killed around 1,200 people in southern Israel on October 7 and took 253 hostages back to Gaza, the Israeli military launched a large-scale air and ground operation to crush Hamas. did.
The Hamas-controlled Gaza Ministry of Health said at least 30,410 people have been killed in Gaza since then, including 21,000 children and women, about 7,000 missing and 71,700 injured.
WATCH: Devastation after dozens killed in Gaza aid operation
Dr Bassem Naim, a member of Hamas' political bureau, told the BBC's NewsHour program on Sunday that Hamas had failed to provide Israel with a complete list of surviving hostages.
“Due to the Israeli shelling and blockade, it is virtually impossible to know who is still alive. They are in different areas and are divided into different groups.
“We asked for a ceasefire to collect data,” he said, adding: “We cannot accept any preconditions.” He was speaking from Istanbul.
Britain, the United States and their Western allies consider Iran-backed Hamas a terrorist organization.
“Hamas is a brutal terrorist organization that has vowed to repeat October 7th over and over again until Israel is destroyed. Hamas shows no regard for innocent lives,” Kamala Harris said. “Hamas cannot control Gaza,” he said.
