RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Possibility discussed Ceasefire agreement in Gaza As Israel's prime minister accused the militant group Hamas of not changing its “delusional” demands, key mediator Qatar said on Saturday that good progress had been made in recent weeks but that the past few days had “unexpected It's not progressing as expected.”
talk on the way munich security conferenceQatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani pointed to difficulties in the “humanitarian part” of the negotiations.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is under pressure to return the remaining hostages taken in the civil war. October 7 Hamas attacksent a delegation to negotiate a ceasefire in Cairo earlier this week at the request of US President Joe Biden, but said there was no point in sending a delegation again.
Hamas wants a permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of Palestinians held by Israel.
Prime Minister Netanyahu also pushed back against international concerns. Planned Israeli ground attack in Rafah, a city in southern Gaza on the border with Egypt. He said a “complete victory” against Hamas requires a single strike. people living there evacuate To a safe area. It is not clear where they will go in largely destroyed Gaza.
More than 40 people, including children, were killed and at least 50 injured in new airstrikes in central Gaza on Saturday, according to an Associated Press reporter and hospital officials. The Israeli military announced it had carried out an attack against Hamas there.
Health authorities said five people were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a house in the southern suburb of Khan Younis, and another five people, including three children, were killed in an airstrike on a building north of Rafah. Dr. Marwan al-Hams, director of Abu Yousef al-Najjar Hospital, said other bodies were being pulled out of the rubble.
The Israeli air and ground attacks were prompted by an October 7 attack that killed around 1,200 people and took 250 hostages inside Israel.
The Gaza Health Ministry on Saturday raised the overall death toll in Gaza to 28,858, saying 83 bodies killed by Israeli shelling had been taken to hospitals in the past 24 hours. The tally does not distinguish between combatants and civilians, but the ministry said two-thirds of the deaths were women and children.
Wars also caused widespread destruction, Approximately 80% evacuated make up the majority of Gaza's population, humanitarian crisis In an enclave run by Hamas.
Egypt is concerned about spillover
More than half of Gaza's 2.3 million people are crammed inside. Rafa, Israel considers it the last major stronghold of Hamas fighters.
Biden called on Israel not to carry out operations on the ground without a “credible” plan to protect civilians, and instead to focus on a ceasefire.Egypt said it could be threatened by the operation diplomatic relations.
Israel has said it has no plans to forcibly relocate Palestinians to Egypt.new satellite photoBut it shows that Egypt is preparing for that scenario. Images show Egypt building a wall and clearing land near its border with Gaza.
Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, also speaking at the Munich Security Conference, said: “It is not our intention to provide safe places or facilities, but if it is done, we will protect innocent civilians.'' We intend to provide support.”
President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi asserted in a telephone conversation with the French leader that Egypt categorically rejects “the migration of Palestinians to Egypt in any form,” according to his office.
Two Egyptian officials said Egypt was building an additional line of defense in an existing buffer zone extending 5 kilometers (3 miles) from the border. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss details with the media.
The buffer zone was built as part of Egypt's fight against Islamic State militants and was intended to prevent arms smuggling to and from Gaza.
A new challenge for aid
Israel has not provided concrete evidence of its claims that Hamas is diverting UN aid, but the targeted killing of a Gaza police commander who was guarding a convoy of trucks has led to the loss of supplies. It has become “virtually impossible” to distribute it safely. the top US envoy said A rare public criticism of Israel.
David Satterfield, the Biden administration's special envoy for humanitarian affairs in the Middle East, said criminal groups were increasingly targeting convoys after police escorts departed in the wake of Israeli airstrikes.
“Everyone wants continued support, so we're working with the Israeli government and the Israeli military to see what solutions we can find here,” Satterfield said Friday at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. he said. The solution “will require the return of the Guard in some form.”
Satterfield said Israeli authorities have not presented “concrete evidence of diversion or theft” of U.N. aid, but that the extremists “use other aid channels… to determine where and where the aid goes.” ” has its own interests.
Israel has repeatedly claimed that Hamas was diverting aid, including fuel, after the invasion of Gaza, a claim denied by the United Nations aid agency. Last week, three senior police officers were killed in an Israeli car strike in Rafah. Two police officers were killed in a separate strike.
Satterfield also addressed the challenges at the main UN agency supporting Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, whose director blamed Israel. In comments published on Saturday He said they were trying to “destroy” the organization and warned it would cease operations in April without further support.
Israeli troops enter hospital
In recent weeks, Israeli forces have focused on Khan Yunis, Gaza's second largest city and a Hamas stronghold.
The military announced on Saturday that it had arrested 100 suspected Hamas militants at a police station in the city. Nasser Hospital. Israel's defense minister said at least 20 of the detainees were involved in the October 7 attack.
The Ministry of Health said the military had turned the hospital into a “barracks” and detained numerous medical staff. Israel says it is not targeting patients or doctors, but officials say the facility is struggling with heavy fire.
Nour Abu Jammeh was among the thousands of people forced to leave over the past week, taking refuge in Nasser Hospital. “Shooting and shelling was coming from all directions,” Jammeh said. “When we left at night, there were bodies in the streets, and tanks were moving over them, crushing them.”
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Mr. Mourou reported from Beirut.
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