Negotiations on a truce in Cairo, Washington calls for an “immediate” ceasefire

Negotiations on a truce in the war between Israel and Palestinian Hamas resume Monday in Cairo after “significant progress”, the day after a call from American Vice President Kamala Harris to an "immediate ceasefire" in the Gaza Strip threatened with famine.

Meanwhile, the Israeli army continued its air and ground bombardments on several sectors of the Palestinian territory that it has been besieging for almost five months, killing at least 100 people, including women and children, according to the Hamas Ministry of Health.

The international community, including the United States, Israel's main ally, is increasing calls for a truce in this war triggered on October 7 by a Hamas attack on Israeli soil which led to the death of at least 1,160 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP count based on official data.

In retaliation, Israel vowed to annihilate Hamas, launching a campaign of intensive bombardments by land, air and sea on Gaza followed by a ground offensive on October 27, which left at least 30,534 dead, mostly women and children. , according to the Islamist movement's Ministry of Health.

Palestinians inspect the rubble of a house destroyed by Israeli shelling in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, March 4, 2024 © AFP – MOHAMMED ABED

Faced with a heavy human toll and a catastrophic humanitarian situation, representatives of Egypt, Qatar and the United States – mediator countries – have resumed negotiations in Cairo with a view to a truce, a television close to Egyptian intelligence speaking of “significant progress” on Sunday. A Hamas delegation is also in Cairo.

The mediating countries have been trying for weeks to obtain a truce agreement allowing in particular the release of hostages held in Gaza in exchange of Palestinian prisoners.

132/5000 Translation results Translation result This photo taken from Israel near the border with the Gaza Strip shows Israeli army vehicles leaving Gaza, March 3, 2024 © AFP – Menahem KAHANA

Approximately 250 people were kidnapped during the October 7 attack. A truce at the end of November allowed the release of 105 hostages in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners.

“Egypt continues its intense efforts to reach a truce before Ramadan”, a holy month of fasting for Muslims which will begin this year on March 10 or 11, said the AlQahera News channel.

– “There are no excuses”! –

© AFP – MOHAMMED ABED

Considered a terrorist organization by Israel, the United States and the European Union, Hamas demands, in order to accept an agreement, a return of displaced people to northern Gaza, an increase in humanitarian aid, and a definitive ceasefire. and an Israeli military withdrawal from Gaza.

Israel, which is not participating in the Cairo negotiations, rejects these conditions, saying it wants to continue its military operations until the elimination of Hamas which took power in Gaza in 2007. It also demands that Hamas provide a list of hostages still being held in Gaza.

As war will soon begin in its sixth month, famine is “almost inevitable” according to the UN for 2.2 million of the 2.4 million inhabitants of this small, cramped territory on which Israel has already imposed a land, air and sea blockade since 2007.< /p>

Not to mention the destruction of entire neighborhoods and the displacement of 1.7 million people, most of them crowded into the city of Rafah (south), backed by Egypt's closed border, and who fear an announced Israeli land offensive.

Palestinians carry packages recovered during an airdrop of food aid by the United States into the Gaza Strip on March 2, 2024 © AFP – –

“Given the scale of the suffering in Gaza, there must be an immediate ceasefire for at least the next six weeks, which is currently on the negotiating table,” said Sunday Ms. Harris.

She asked Israel, which controls the entry of humanitarian aid into the Palestinian territory, to “do more to significantly increase the flow of “aid. There are no excuses (…) It (Israel) must not impose unnecessary restrictions on the delivery of aid.”

At the same time, “the threat that Hamas poses to the people of Israel must be eliminated,” according to her.

On Monday in Washington, Benny Gantz, a member of Benjamin Netanyahu's Israeli war cabinet, is due to meet Ms. Harris. He is also scheduled to meet with White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

This visit was condemned by d other members of the Israeli government who consider it subversive.

– “Stop the blood”! –

108/5000 Translation results Translation result Palestinians walk among the rubble of homes destroyed by Israeli bombings in Gaza City, March 3, 2024 © AFP – –

Faced with road transport difficulties, several countries have airdropped aid to the Gaza Strip, including the United States.

In recent hours, Israeli bombings have mainly targeted Rafah and Khan Younes in the south, Jabaliya, Nuseirat in the center and Gaza City in the north, according to the Hamas government and witnesses.

The Israeli army claimed that its soldiers, with air support, were seeking to encircle the western part of Khan Yunis where “there are many terrorist infrastructures and where fleeing terrorists are hiding “.

“Stop this blood! Stop it! Why this blood? Why?! Why are they exterminating us?, a woman displaced from Gaza rages in front of a morgue at Najjar hospital in Rafah where Palestinians mourn the death of their loved ones killed in an Israeli bombing. “Every day, bombings, bombings, bombings. There is no safe place.”

Israeli soldiers take away arrested and blindfolded Palestinians during a raid in the Al-Amari refugee camp near Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank, March 4, 2024 © AFP – Jaafar ASHTIYEH

In Geneva, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, expressed his fear that the war in Gaza would lead “to a much wider conflagration” citing the daily exchanges of fire on the Israeli-Lebanese border and attacks by Yemeni Houthi rebels against ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

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