Hopes for Gaza truce appear slim
Prospects for a Gaza ceasefire appeared slim yesterday as Hamas reiterated its demand for an end to the offensive in exchange for the freeing of hostages, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu flatly ruled that out.
The two sides blamed each other for the impasse.
In their second day of truce talks in Cairo with Egyptian and Qatari mediators in Cairo, Hamas negotiators maintained their stance that any truce agreement must end the offensive, Palestinian officials said.
- 29 more Palestinians killed in airstrikes
- Israel closes key border crossing targeted by Hamas rockets
- Five Palestinians killed in West Bank raid
- Death toll in enclave rises to 34,683
Israeli officials have not travelled to Cairo to take part in indirect diplomacy, but yesterday Netanyahu reiterated Israel's aim since the start of the offensive nearly seven months ago: to disarm and dismantle the Palestinian movement Hamas for good or else endanger Israel's future security.
The prime minister said Israel was willing to pause fighting in Gaza in order to secure the release of hostages still being held by Hamas, believed to number more than 130.
"But while Israel has shown willingness, Hamas remains entrenched in its extreme positions, first among them the demand to remove all our forces from the Gaza Strip, end the war, and leave Hamas in power," Netanyahu said. "Israel cannot accept that."
In a statement released shortly after Netanyahu's, Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh said the group is still keen on reaching a comprehensive ceasefire that ends the Israeli "aggression", guarantees Israel's withdrawal from Gaza, and achieves "a serious" deal to free Israelis being held hostage in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners.
A Hamas official, requesting anonymity as he was not authorised to publicly discuss the talks, told AFP that the group's negotiators in Cairo were leaving for Doha after talks ended.
At least 34,683 Palestinians have been killed, 29 of them in the past 24 hours, and more than 77,000 have been wounded in Israel's assault, according to Gaza's health ministry. The bombardment has devastated much of the coastal enclave and caused a humanitarian crisis.
Residents and health officials in Gaza said Israeli planes and tanks continued to pound areas across the Palestinian enclave overnight, killing and wounding several people.
Israeli forces killed five Palestinians, including four fighters from Hamas, in an overnight raid near the city of Tulkarm in the occupied West Bank.
Israel's army said that it had closed Kerem Shalom, the key border crossing into southern Gaza, to aid trucks after rockets were fired by Hamas towards the gateway.
Israel has been warning for months it plans to send troops into Rafah, the southern city bordering Egypt where more than a million displaced Gaza residents have taken refuge. Israel believes thousands of Hamas fighters are holed up in the city, along with potentially dozens of hostages.
Such an incursion would put hundreds of thousands of lives at risk and be a huge blow to the aid operations of the entire enclave, the UN humanitarian office said on Friday.
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