PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES: Israel has more or less accepted a six-week ceasefire offer in the Gaza Strip war against Hamas, a US official said on Saturday, as Palestinian negotiators were scheduled to meet in Cairo.
Mediators hope to broker a truce ahead of the Muslim fasting month, which begins on March 10 or 11, with the aim of ending nearly five months of conflict that has ravaged the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.
In a sign of the dire humanitarian situation with the escalation of violence, the health ministry of the besieged region has reported that more than ten children have died due to malnutrition in recent days.
A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told reporters that there was a “framework agreement” for a ceasefire that “the Israeli side has more or less accepted.”
“It will be a six-week ceasefire in Gaza, starting today (Sunday) if Hamas agrees to release the defined category of vulnerable hostages… the wounded, the sick, elderly and women,” said the official.
“Right now, the ball is in the camp of Hamas.”
A Hamas delegation left Qatar for Egypt on Saturday, a source close to Hamas said.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Hamas would issue a formal response to the plan, which emerged from talks with Israeli negotiators in Paris late last month.
Israel has not yet confirmed its acceptance of the ceasefire plan.
Earlier, the United States, which provides billions of dollars in military aid to its ally Israel, announced that it had begun air aid to war-torn Gaza.
The start of the US relief effort comes a day after US President Joe Biden announced the move, saying “more action is needed” to ease the dire humanitarian crisis.
But parachute support does not replace “the fundamental need to move support across the ground as much as possible,” US officials said.
“Shooting for no reason”
Gaza is facing reduced aid shipments across its land borders, and aid groups blame at least some of Israel’s restrictions.
“We made it available,” US Central Command said in a post on the social media platform.
Several Arab and European governments have carried out airdrops over Gaza since November, but Tuesday’s operation was the first involving the United States.
