Cease-fire talks: Israel downplays chances of ending war with Hamas

[Pelican Press 0]

Cease-***** talks: ******* downplays chances of ending war with ******

TEL AVIV, ******* (AP) — A ****** delegation was in Cairo on Saturday as Egyptian state media reported “noticeable progress” in cease-***** talks for Gaza. But ******* hasn’t sent a delegation and a senior ******** official downplayed prospects for a full end to the war while emphasizing the commitment to invading Rafah.

Pressure has mounted to reach a deal halting the nearly 7-month-long war. A top U.N. official says there is now a “ full-blown famine” in northern Gaza, while the ******* States has repeatedly warned close ally ******* about its planned offensive into Rafah, the southernmost city on the border with Egypt, where more than 1 million Palestinians are sheltering.

Egyptian and U.S. mediators have reported signs of compromise in recent days, but chances for a cease-***** deal remain entangled with the key question of whether ******* will accept an end to the war without reaching its stated goal of destroying the militant group ******.

Egypt’s state-owned Al-Qahera News TV channel said that a consensus had been reached over many disputed points but did not elaborate. ****** has called for a complete end to the war and withdrawal of all ******** forces from Gaza.

A senior ******** official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss ongoing negotiations, played down the prospects for a full end to the war. The official said ******* was committed to the Rafah invasion and that it will not agree in any circumstance to end the war as part of a deal to release hostages.

******** media said that statement had been dictated by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose government could be threatened if he agrees to a deal because hard-line Cabinet members demand an ******* on Rafah.

The proposal that Egyptian mediators had put to ****** sets out a three-stage process that would bring an immediate, six-week cease-***** and partial release of ******** hostages, and would include some sort of ******** pullout. The initial stage would last for 40 days. ****** would start by releasing female civilian hostages in exchange for ************ prisoners held by *******.

Some families of hostages accused Netanyahu of prolonging the war for his political interests. Daniel Elgert, whose brother Itzhak is held by ******, addressed Netanyahu at the latest rally in Tel Aviv: “Bibi, we call on you from here to announce the end of the war in exchange for the return of all the hostages. The war is effectively over, we know it’s over, you can’t fool us.”

The war has ******* more than 34,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s local health officials, caused widespread destruction and plunged the territory into an unprecedented humanitarian crisis.

The conflict erupted on Oct. 7, when ****** attacked southern *******, abducting about 250 people and ******** around 1,200, mostly civilians. ******* says militants still hold around 100 hostages and the ******** of more than 30 others.

******** strikes Saturday on Gaza ******* at least six people. Three bodies were recovered from the rubble of a building in Rafah and taken to Yousef Al Najjar hospital. A strike in the Nuseirat ******** camp in central Gaza ******* three people, according to hospital officials.

In the last 24 hours, the bodies of 32 people ******* by ******** strikes have been brought to local hospitals, Gaza’s Health Ministry said Saturday. The ministry does not distinguish between fighters and civilians in its tallies but says that women and children make up around two-thirds of those *******.

The ******** military says it has ******* 13,000 militants, without providing evidence to back up the claim.

It has also conducted mass arrests during its raids inside Gaza. The territory’s Health Ministry urged the International ********* Court to investigate the ****** in ******** custody of a Gaza surgeon. Adnan al-Borsh, 50, was working at al-Awda Hospital when ******** troops stormed it in December, according to the ************ Prisoner’s Club.

The ******* Nations has warned that hundreds of thousands would be “at imminent risk of ******” if *******’s military moves forward into densely packed Rafah, which is also a critical entry point for humanitarian aid. ******* has briefed U.S. officials on its plan to evacuate civilians.

The director of the U.N. World Food Program, Cindy McCain, said Friday that trapped civilians in the north, the most cut-off part of Gaza, have plunged into famine. McCain said a cease-***** and a greatly increased flow of aid through land and sea routes was essential.

A ******** humanitarian official on Saturday called McCain’s assertion incorrect and said ******* has been facilitating the delivery of more aid. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation.

******* recently opened new crossings for aid into northern Gaza, but on Wednesday, ******** settlers blocked the first convoy before it crossed into the besieged enclave. Once inside Gaza, the convoy was commandeered by ****** militants, before U.N. officials reclaimed it.

Some displaced residents of northern Gaza said they had been skipping meals and hadn’t seen vegetables for weeks.

“You know now everything is scarce in Gaza. There are no vegetables and there is no aid or food packages. It is about once a month that we get food parcels,” Marwan Al-Zaid said.

In the ********-occupied West Bank, where tensions have been high since the outbreak of the war in Gaza, the ******** military said it and Shin Bet had ******* five fighters in Tulkarem, asserting the fighters had opened *****. ************ authorities said five people were ******* by ******** ***** in the town of Deir al-Ghusun, roughly 7 kilometers (4.3 miles) northeast of Tulkarem.

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Jeffery reported from Jerusalem. Associated Press writers Josef Federman in Jerusalem and Bassem Mroue in Beirut contributed to this report.

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