Hopes of a truce between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip faded again on Thursday, March 7, as the war entered its sixth month.
Hopes dimmed on Thursday for a truce before Ramadan in the Israel-Hamas war that entered its sixth month with dozens more killed, according to the Gaza health ministry.
The ministry said 83 more people had been killed over the previous day, adding to a toll it says has reached 30,800, mostly women and children, in a war that China called “a disgrace to civilization.”
US President Joe Biden had urged Hamas to accept a ceasefire plan with Israel before the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan begins, as early as Sunday depending on the lunar calendar.
‘What Can We Do?’
But on Thursday Hamas’s delegation left Cairo, and talks “will resume next week” during Ramadan, said Al-Qahera News channel, which is linked to Egypt’s state intelligence service, citing a senior source.
Talks for a truce in Gaza have not yet “broken down”, the US ambassador to Israel said Thursday, after the Hamas delegation voiced dissatisfaction with Israel’s positions and left Cairo.
“The differences are being narrowed. It’s not yet an agreement. Everyone’s looking towards Ramadan, which is coming close. I can’t tell you that it will be successful, but it is not yet the case that it is broken down,” Jack Lew said at a conference in Tel Aviv.
The US envoy’s remarks come after a senior Hamas official told AFP the group’s delegation had left Egypt for consultations in Qatar.
“The initial (Israeli) responses do not meet the minimum requirements related to the permanent cessation of hostilities” or other Hamas conditions for a ceasefire, he added.
Hamas has been insisting on a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, the return of displaced people to their homes and allowing humanitarian aid in and reconstruction to begin in the territory.
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As talks drag on, the United Nations has repeatedly warned that famine looms for Palestinians struggling to survive in the territory.
“It is a tragedy for humankind and a disgrace for civilization that today, in the 21st century, this humanitarian disaster cannot be stopped,” said Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, whose country has been historically sympathetic to the Palestinian cause.
By late January the war had damaged around half of all buildings in Gaza and rendered the territory “uninhabitable” for its 2.4 million people, a UN agency said, warning the impact would only worsen if the war continued.
The health ministry on Wednesday said 20 people had died of malnutrition and dehydration, at least half of them children.
Only limited aid has reached Gaza’s north.
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The UN on Wednesday again cited “access constraints” as among the factors limiting essential water and other services, while United States Vice President Kamala Harris has said Israel “must not impose any unnecessary restrictions” on aid delivery.
Rescued From Rubble
James McGoldrick, interim UN Humanitarian Coordinator for the Palestinian Territories, said aid convoys would continue to be looted or ransacked unless assistance can “really flood” the north.
He said Israeli authorities had “given the green light” for use of a military road on the eastern side of Gaza to reach the north.
On Saturday the United States joined Jordan and other countries which have airdropped aid, but humanitarians say this is not the most efficient way to provide relief.
Airdrops continued on Thursday, AFPTV images showed.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is expected in Cyprus on Friday for talks on a maritime aid corridor from the island to Gaza.
In the grey ruins of Khan Younes, southern Gaza’s largest city, dozens of people went to inspect their homes and take what belongings they could recover after Israeli forces pulled out of the city center, an AFP correspondent said.
Gaza’s Civil Defense agency said Israeli forces “destroyed all water, sewage, electricity, communications and road networks” in central Khan Younes.
The army has yet to respond to an AFP request to confirm a withdrawal from the area, but both the army and Hamas authorities said military operations were continuing in the city’s west.
Witnesses told AFP violent clashes had also occurred in the Zeitun district of Gaza City and Shuka, a village in Rafah, where around 1.5 million people have sought refuge near the Egyptian border but have been unable to escape the fighting.
Pressure
During the October 7 attack, militants also took around 250 Israeli and foreign hostages, some of whom were released during a week-long truce in November. Israel believes 99 of them remain alive in Gaza and that 31 have died.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has faced increasing public pressure over the fate of hostages still held and from a resurgent anti-government protest movement.
The war has highlighted deep divisions between Netanyahu and Benny Gantz, a member of his war cabinet who made an unauthorized trip to Washington and London this week.
Netanyahu has vowed to push on with the campaign to destroy Hamas, before or after any truce deal.
The proposed deal would pause fighting for “at least six weeks,” see the “release of sick, wounded, elderly and women hostages” and allow for “a surge of humanitarian assistance,” the White House said.
Adel Zaanoun, Louis Baudoin-Laarman, with AFP
