Gaza ceasefire talks to resume on Sunday

Negotiations for a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release are reportedly set to resume in Cairo on Sunday, with mediators from Egypt and Qatar expected to receive Hamas’s response to the latest proposed framework.

A senior Biden administration official said on Saturday that Israel had more or less accepted the framework.

“Right now, the ball is in Hamas’s court and we will continue to do our best to push this forward,” said the official, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the talks publicly.

The deal, if accepted as proposed, would have resulted in a six-week ceasefire and the release of hostages considered vulnerable. It would also allow more humanitarian aid to enter Gaza.

“I don’t want to create expectations in any way,” the official added, according to Reuters.

Hamas has not abandoned its position that a temporary truce must be the beginning of a process to end the war for good, according to Egyptian sources and a Hamas official.

Agence France-Presse reported on Sunday morning that a senior Hamas official said a ceasefire could be achieved within 24 to 48 hours if Israel accepted Hamas’ demands.

“If Israel agrees to Hamas’ demands, including the return of displaced Palestinians to northern Gaza and increased humanitarian aid, it will [truce] “We will reach an agreement in the next 24 to 48 hours,” AFP quoted the official as saying.

Mediators have been trying to reach a ceasefire before Ramadan, the Muslim fasting month that begins on March 10 or 11, in hopes of ending the nearly five-month conflict that has ravaged the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.

U.S. President Joe Biden has also expressed hope for a ceasefire during Ramadan but told reporters on Friday, “We’re not there yet.”

Biden and other world leaders are under pressure to meet the urgent humanitarian needs of the Palestinians. Five months of war and severe aid cuts have left a quarter of Gaza’s population on the brink of famine.

The conflict began on October 7, 2023, when the designated terrorist organization Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking approximately 240 hostages. Israel launched air and ground attacks on Gaza, killing more than 30,000 people, according to the local health ministry. Nearly three-quarters of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have been displaced.

Residents reported tanks and shelling around Khan Younis on Sunday. In Rafah, two Israeli attacks killed 25 people, authorities said.

Harris meets Gantz

Meanwhile, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris will meet Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz at the White House on Monday as Washington tries to secure a temporary ceasefire and increase humanitarian aid to Gaza.

White House officials said the talks are expected to focus on Palestinian civilian casualties, securing a temporary ceasefire, freeing hostages in Gaza and increasing aid to the enclave.

“The vice president will express her concerns for the safety of up to 1.5 million people in Rafah,” the official said, adding that Israel “has the right to defend itself against the ongoing terrorist threat from Hamas.”

Gantz confirmed in a statement that he would meet with Harris, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan and Republican and Democratic members of Congress.

Gantz, Israel’s former military chief of staff and defense minister, is Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s main political rival in opinion polls.according to Haaretz websiteA senior official close to Netanyahu reportedly said on Saturday that the prime minister did not approve Gantz’s visit to Washington, according to an independent Israeli news website.

Meals airdropped over Gaza

The U.S. military airdropped food and aid in Gaza on Saturday, U.S. officials said, in the first round of emergency humanitarian aid authorized by Biden.

Videos posted by Palestinians on social media showed a U.S. C-130 cargo plane dropping boxes of aid. The first phase of the humanitarian operation saw more than 35,000 food and aid items airdropped on pallets into the enclave, where the United Nations reports that a quarter of the population is one step away from famine.

The White House said the airdrops would be an ongoing effort and that Israel supported the operation.

The Jordanian and Egyptian militaries said they also conducted airdrops.

Biden approved the humanitarian action, the first of many, on Thursday after at least 115 Palestinians died as they swarmed to get supplies from an aid convoy. Hundreds more people were injured in the unrest, according to the health ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza.

The Israeli military on Saturday pledged to conduct a thorough and factual investigation into the death, as international calls for an investigation grew.

Gaza health authorities said 118 people were killed in Thursday’s incident, blaming the deaths on Israeli artillery fire and calling it a massacre.

Israel disputes the figures, saying most victims were trampled or run over during chaotic aid deliveries.

An Israeli official also said the army had a “limited response” and then opened fire on people they believed posed a threat.

The latest violence brings the Palestinian death toll in the nearly five-month war to more than 30,000, with another 71,000 injured and many more missing under the rubble, according to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry.

Some information provided by The Associated Press, AFP and Reuters.