GAZA: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday he has agreed to send a delegation for talks on securing the release of hostages seized in the October 7 attacks.
In a statement following telephone talks with US President Joe Biden, Netanyahu’s office said: “The prime minister updated Joe Biden about his decision to send a delegation that would continue talks for the release of hostages.”
Netanyahu called a meeting of his security cabinet late on Thursday to discuss proposals sent by the Palestinian group Hamas through Qatari mediators to end the Gaza bombardment, media reports said.
Hamas has demanded an end to Israeli bombardment and Israeli forces’ withdrawal as a pre-condition to any hostage deal.
An Israeli government official confirmed on Thursday that a delegation has been sent to negotiate a potential ceasefire and hostage release deal with Hamas. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been under increasing pressure to secure the release of the remaining 136 hostages still in Gaza.
Meanwhile, Hamas has reportedly conveyed new proposals through Qatari mediators aimed at ending the prolonged conflict with Israel. Israeli authorities confirmed they are evaluating these proposals.
Prime Minister Netanyahu reiterated Israel’s stance that the conflict will only conclude when all objectives, including the dismantling of Hamas and the safe return of hostages, are achieved.
Under a truce deal brokered in late November by the United States, Qatar and Egypt, over 100 of the estimated 240 hostages taken to Gaza on October 7 were freed in exchange for the release of 240 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.
According to the Gaza health ministry, as of Thursday, at least 38,011 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed and 87,445 injured in the ongoing relentless Israeli bombardment in Gaza since October 7 last year. The toll includes at least 58 deaths in the past 24 hours alone.
Amid fears of a renewed offensive, tens of thousands of Palestinians have fled southern Gaza following evacuation orders issued by Israel. The area, including Shujaiya district, has been heavily bombarded, forcing civilians to seek refuge in safer locations such as Gaza City’s Yarmuk sports stadium.
On Israel’s northern front, tensions escalated with Lebanon’s Hezbollah launching rockets at Israeli targets in retaliation for the killing of a senior commander. The exchange of fire has heightened fears of broader conflict between the long-time adversaries.
Lebanon’s Hezbollah said it fired 200 rockets at Israeli targets in retaliation for a strike that killed a senior commander, heightening fears of full-scale war between the longtime foes.
The United Nations and humanitarian agencies have condemned the escalating Israeli violence, describing it as causing unprecedented suffering among the Palestinian civilian population. The latest evacuation orders have displaced approximately 250,000 people, exacerbating the already dire humanitarian situation.
Ten days after Netanyahu said the Gaza war’s “intense phase” was winding down, the Israeli military again rained down air strikes and artillery fire on the Shujaiya district.
Almost all patients in the European Gaza Hospital and the Red Cross field hospital decided to flee following the evacuation order, the World Health Organization said.
Though the European Gaza Hospital itself is not under evacuation instructions, the order has impacted operations.
“Now only three patients remain at the European Gaza Hospital and three at the ICRC field hospital,” the WHO said, citing figures from Tuesday.
UN chief Antonio Guterres’s spokesman said the southern evacuation order covers 117 square kilometres (45 square miles), “making it the largest such order since October”.
“Frankly, it’s a step in the wrong direction. The direction we want to be heading is to find a negotiated two-state solution,” said the spokesman, Stephane Dujarric.
Andrea De Domenico, who heads the United Nations humanitarian office, OCHA, in the occupied Palestinian territories, said nine out of 10 people in Gaza had been displaced at least once by the war.
The New York Times has quoted Israeli security officials as saying top generals see a truce as the best way to secure the release of the remaining hostages, even if that meant not achieving all the war goals.
Netanyahu strongly rejected this and vowed Israel would not give in to the “winds of defeatism”.
“The war will end once Israel achieves all of its objectives, including the destruction of Hamas and the release of all of our hostages,” he said.
