Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas have once again displayed their deep disagreement with a view to a truce in the war in Gaza, casting a chill on the discussions which resumed on Sunday in Cairo.
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In the seventh month of the war triggered by a bloody attack by Hamas on October 7 against Israel, the director of the World Food Program (WFP), Cindy McCain, was alarmed to see the north of the Gaza Strip hit by a “real famine”, which is progressing towards the south.
In retaliation for the unprecedented attack by Hamas, the Israeli army launched a large-scale air and then land offensive in the Palestinian territory it is besieging, leading to the death of 34,683 people, mainly civilians according to Hamas, and provoking a humanitarian catastrophe and colossal destruction.
And Israeli military operations show no respite, leaving 29 dead in the last 24 hours, according to the Health Ministry of Hamas, which took power in Gaza in 2007.
The offer from the mediators, namely Qatar, Egypt and the United States, presented to Hamas at the end of April, provides for a temporary truce associated with the release of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for that of hostages kidnapped during the October 7 attack.
After a first round of discussions on Saturday in Cairo in the presence of a Hamas delegation led by Khalil al-Hayya and representatives of the mediators, Israel and the Palestinian movement accused each other of hindering any agreement.
A Hamas official reiterated, on condition of anonymity, that his movement would “under no circumstances accept an agreement that does not explicitly provide for an end to the war” in Gaza.
Benjamin “Netanyahu is personally slowing down an agreement,” he told AFP on Saturday evening about the Israeli prime minister previously accused by Hamas of obstructing him with his public threats over an assault in Rafah, an overpopulated city in southern Gaza Strip.
Mr. Netanyahu for his part reaffirmed on Sunday that “Israel cannot accept” Hamas’ demands to stop the war.
Israel is not present in Cairo. And an Israeli official said that a delegation would go there if progress was made.
CIA chief William Burns is in Cairo, US media reported.
According to a Hamas Source, discussions resumed on Sunday between the Islamist movement and the Qatari and Egyptian mediators, the day after a first round without progress.
Hamas insists on its demands: “a total cessation of Israeli aggression” and “the withdrawal” of Israeli forces from Gaza.
Conditions rejected by Israel, which considers Hamas a terrorist organization along with the United States and the European Union, and which vowed to wipe out the Islamist movement after the October 7 attack.
That day, Hamas commandos infiltrated from Gaza in southern Israel launched an attack which resulted in the death of more than 1,170 people, mainly civilians, according to an AFP report based on official data. Israelis.
During the attack, more than 250 people were kidnapped and 128 remain captive in Gaza, 35 of whom died, according to the army.
In a statement on Sunday, the Forum of Hostage Families called on Mr. Netanyahu “to ignore political pressure” and accept an agreement that would allow the release of the hostages. “Mr. Netanyahu, history will not forgive you if you miss this opportunity.”
While efforts for a truce are increasing, Benjamin Netanyahu continues to proclaim his intention to lead a ground offensive on Rafah, which according to him constitutes the last major bastion of Hamas in the Palestinian territory.
The United States, Israel’s main ally, has repeatedly expressed its opposition to an assault on this city where there are 1.2 million Palestinians, most of them displaced by the war.
“The damage it would cause would be beyond what is acceptable,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned.
Located on Egypt’s closed border, Rafah is the main land crossing point for humanitarian aid. An offensive would be a “hard blow” to humanitarian operations, the UN warned.
This aid, strictly controlled by Israel, remains very insufficient to meet the needs of some 2.4 million Gazans.
In the Gaza Strip, “the famine is there, a real famine in the north, and which is moving towards the south,” declared WFP director Cindy McCain, according to an excerpt of an interview broadcast Friday by NBC .
She called for a ceasefire and “unhindered access” to Gaza to deliver aid.
On the ground, the Israeli air force, navy and tanks again bombarded Gaza City, in the north of the Gaza Strip, according to an AFP correspondent on site.
Witnesses reported strikes on the center and the south, notably in Khan Younes and Rafah.
The army claimed to have killed four Hamas fighters in central Gaza and others elsewhere in the territory including a “drone operator”.
After previously accusing Al-Jazeera of being “a propaganda organ of Hamas and of having participated in the massacre of October 7,” Mr. Netanyahu announced the “unanimous” decision of his government to close this Qatar channel in Israel .
