Jerusalem – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hinted on Tuesday that the efforts of Alto El Fuego in Gaza now focus on a comprehensive agreement that would release the remaining hostages at the same time, instead of in phases.
Arab officials told The Associated Press last week that the mediators Egypt and Qatar were preparing a new framework for an agreement that would include the launch of all the remaining hostages once in exchange for a high durable fire and the withdrawal of the Israeli forces.
The long indirect conversations seemed to break last month. But a delegation of Hamas arrived in Cairo for high -fire conversations on Tuesday, the Qahera news channel in Egypt reported, a sign that efforts have not been abandoned after 22 months of war.
Israel has threatened to expand its military offensive against Hamas to the areas of Gaza that it still does not control, and where most of the 2 million residents of the territory have sought refuge.
These plans have caused international condemnation and criticism within Israel, and could intend to increase the pressure on Hamas to reach a high fire. The militants still have 50 hostages taken in the attack of October 7, 2023 that caused the war. Israel believes that about 20 of them are alive.
‘I love you all’
In an interview with the transmission of the I24 news network of Israel on Tuesday, Netanyahu was asked if the window had closed in a partial agreement of high fire. The Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Badr Abdelatty, told journalists that Cairo is still trying to advance in a previous proposal for a high initial fire of 60 days, the release of some hostages and an influx of humanitarian aid before more conversations about a lasting truce.
“I think it’s behind us,” Netanyahu replied. “We tried, we made all kinds of attempts, we passed by a lot, but it turned out that they were only deceiving us.”
“I want all of them,” he said about the hostages. “The launch of all hostages, both alive and dead, that is the stage in which we are.”
He added, however, that Israel’s demands have not changed, and that the war will end only when all hostages are returned and Hamas has surrendered. He has said that even then, Israel will maintain open security control over the territory.
Hamas has long requested an integral agreement, but says that it will only release the remaining hostages in exchange for the release of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel, a high lasting fire and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. The militant group has refused to leave his arms, as Israel demanded.
UN warns about hunger, malnutrition
The United Nations warned Tuesday that hunger and malnutrition in Gaza are at the highest levels since the war began.
The UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric reported the warning of the World Food Program and said that Gaza’s Ministry of Health told the UN staff in Gaza that five people died in the last 24 hours of malnutrition and starvation.
The Ministry says that 121 adults and 101 children have died due to causes related to malnutrition during war.
“In this context, the humanitarian supplies that enter Gaza remain well below the minimum required to meet the immense needs of people,” said Dujarric.
The UN and its humanitarian partners are doing everything possible to provide help to Gaza, he said, but still face significant delays and impediments of Israeli authorities that avoid food delivery and other essential elements at the necessary scale.
Militants led by Hamas kidnapped 251 people and killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in that 2023 attack. Most hostages have been released in ceasefire or other agreements.
Since then, Israel’s aerial and land offensive has displaced most of the population of Gaza, destroyed vast areas and pushed the territory towards the famine. He has killed more than 61,400 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health, which does not say how many were combatants or civilians, but says that about half were women and children.
The Ministry is part of the government led by Hamas and is treated by medical professionals. The UN and independent experts consider it the most reliable source of war casualties. Israel disputes its figures but has not provided their own.
Israel says he hit the militants disguised as humanitarian workers
In a separate development, the Israeli army said that it recently hit a group of militants in Gaza who were disguised as humanitarian workers and using a car with the International Logo Charity World Central Kitchen.
The army said that he carried out an air attack in men after confirming with the beneficial organization that they were not affiliated and that the car did not belong to him.
World Central Kitchen confirmed that men and vehicle were not affiliated with it. “We firmly condemn any person to pass through the world central cuisine or other humanitarian, since this endangers civilians and humanitarian workers,” he said in a statement.
The military shared video images that show several men with yellow vests around a vehicle with the logo of the charity organization on their roof. The army said five of the men were armed.
The beneficial organization, founded in 2010, sends equipment that can quickly provide massive foods in conflict areas and after natural disasters.
In April, an Israeli strike killed seven world central kitchen in Gaza. Israel quickly admitted that he had killed humanitarian workers and has launched an investigation.
In November, an Israeli strike killed five people, including a world worker of central cuisine that Israel said it was part of Hamas attack that caused the war. The beneficial organization said at that time that it did not know that the employee had any connection with the attack.
