Israel says it will send delegation to Qatar for new round of negotiations
Gaza:
An emergency ship on a new sea corridor from Cyprus began unloading much-needed food in Gaza on Friday as Hamas proposed a new six-week truce in the war.
AFP footage showed the Open Arms sailing from Cyprus on Tuesday, towing a barge that the Spanish charity that operates the ship said was carrying 200 tons of food to supply people after more than five months of war. Gazans at risk of famine.
Linda Roth, a spokesperson for the US charity that works with Open Arms, said: “World Central Kitchen is unloading barges connected to the docks.”
The Israeli military said it had deployed troops to “protect the security of the area surrounding the dock.” “The ship underwent a comprehensive safety inspection,” the statement added.
The health ministry in the Hamas-ruled region said at least 149 people had died in the past 24 hours.
Witnesses said air strikes and fighting took place in Khan Younis, the main city in the south of the Gaza Strip, and in the northern areas, and the humanitarian situation was particularly severe.
As Muslim worshipers celebrated the first Friday of Ramadan, thousands attended prayers at the revered Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Israeli-annexed East Jerusalem amid heavy Israeli security forces and restricted entry.
Amjad Ghalib, 44, said: “This is the first time I’ve seen so many troops (police) and their eyes… I could have argued with them two years ago, But now… they don’t give us a chance.” Year old carpenter.
In Rafah in southern Gaza, the last major population center that has not yet suffered a ground attack, AFP footage showed worshipers praying near the ruins of a destroyed mosque.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Friday he had approved the military’s plan to launch an operation in Rafah, where much of the Gaza Strip’s population seeks asylum, but did not provide details or a timetable.
The White House said an attack on Rafah would be a “red line” without a credible civilian protection plan and said it had not yet seen Netanyahu approve the plan.
“We certainly welcome the opportunity to see it,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said, adding that the U.S. would not support any effort without a “credible” proposal to provide asylum for more than one million Gazans. plan.
“obstacles” to peace
Hamas has put forward a new proposal for a six-week ceasefire and the exchange of dozens of Israeli hostages, a Hamas official told AFP. Exchange of Palestinian prisoners.
Hamas hopes this will lead to “a complete withdrawal of (Israeli) troops from the Gaza Strip and a permanent ceasefire,” the official added.
The official said the proposal would involve the release of about 42 hostages who would be exchanged for Palestinian prisoners, a ratio of 20 to 50 prisoners per hostage, down from a previous proposal of about 100 to one.
The Palestinian group held about 250 Israeli and foreign hostages in a Hamas attack on Oct. 7, dozens of whom were released during a week-long truce in November. Israel believes that about 130 prisoners remain in Gaza, 32 of whom are suspected to be dead.
Israel said it would send a delegation to Qatar for a new round of negotiations.
The White House said it was “cautiously optimistic” about the possibility of a ceasefire but stressed that talks were far from over.
“We are cautiously optimistic that things are moving in the right direction,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said, adding that the Hamas proposal “is within the scope of what negotiators have discussed in recent months.” Inside”.
The United States, which provides billions of dollars in military aid to Israel, has become increasingly critical of Netanyahu’s handling of the war.
U.S. Senate leader Chuck Schumer called for early elections in Israel and described Netanyahu as one of several “major obstacles” to peace in a speech praising Biden.
“I think he expressed serious concerns, not just for himself but for many Americans,” the president said.
Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party countered that Israel was “not a banana republic but an independent and proud democracy”.
Dying “to keep my family alive”
The United Nations has repeatedly warned of looming famine, but only a fraction of the supplies needed to sustain Gaza’s 2.4 million people have been allowed in.
With fewer rescue trucks coming in by road, rescue efforts by air and sea have multiplied.
Cyprus, the EU member closest to Gaza, said a second, larger ship was being prepared for the fledgling maritime and air corridor after the Open Arms completed its mission.
“God willing, they will bring food to the children, that’s all we ask for,” Gaza displaced person Abu Isa Ibrahim al-Firfil told AFP.
According to official AFP statistics, Hamas’s attack on October 7 killed about 1,160 people in Israel, most of them civilians.
According to the Health Ministry, Israeli retaliation against Hamas has resulted in the deaths of at least 31,490 people in Gaza, mostly women and children.
On Thursday, Israeli forces opened fire from “tanks and helicopters” as Palestinians waited for aid distribution at a Gaza City roundabout, killing 20 people and wounding dozens more, the ministry said.
Mohammed Ghurab, director of emergency services at a local hospital, told AFP that “the occupation forces shot directly at people waiting for the food trucks.”
The Israeli military denied firing into the crowd. A military statement said “armed Palestinians opened fire as Gazan civilians waited for an aid convoy to arrive” and then “continued shooting as the Gaza crowd began looting trucks.”
UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths said: “People should not die while trying to keep their families alive. Aid distribution in Gaza should be done in a safe, dignified and predictable manner.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
