By NATALIE MELZER, Associated Press
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday hinted that ceasefire efforts in Gaza are now focused on a comprehensive deal that would release the remaining hostages all at once, rather than in phases.
Arab officials told The Associated Press last week that mediators Egypt and Qatar were preparing a new framework for a deal that would include the release of all remaining hostages in one go in return for a lasting ceasefire and the withdrawal of Israeli forces.
The long-running indirect talks appeared to break down last month. But a Hamas delegation arrived in Cairo for ceasefire talks on Tuesday, Egypt’s state-run Qahera news channel reported, a sign that efforts have not been abandoned after 22 months of war.
Israel has threatened to widen its military offensive against Hamas to the areas of Gaza that it does not yet control, and where most of the territory’s 2 million residents have sought refuge.
Those plans have sparked international condemnation and criticism within Israel, and could be intended to raise pressure on Hamas to reach a ceasefire. Hamas still holds 50 hostages taken in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that sparked the war. Israel believes around 20 of them are alive.
Hamas has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, Canada and the European Union.
‘I want all of them’
In an interview with Israel’s i24 News network broadcast Tuesday, Netanyahu was asked if the window had closed on a partial ceasefire deal. Egyptian Foreign Ministry Badr Abdelatty told reporters that Cairo is still trying to advance an earlier proposal for an initial 60-day ceasefire, the release of some hostages and an influx of humanitarian aid before further talks on a lasting truce.
“I think it’s behind us,” Netanyahu replied. “We tried, we made all kinds of attempts, we went through a lot, but it turned out that they were just misleading us.”
“I want all of them,” he said of the hostages. “The release of all the hostages, both alive and dead — that’s the stage we’re at.”
He added, however, that Israel’s demands haven’t changed, and that the war will end only when all hostages are returned and Hamas has surrendered. He has said that even then, Israel will maintain open-ended security control over the territory.
Hamas has long called for a comprehensive deal but says it will only release the remaining hostages in return for the release of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel, a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. The group has refused to lay down its arms, as Israel has demanded.
UN warns about starvation, malnutrition
The United Nations on Tuesday warned that starvation and malnutrition in Gaza are at the highest levels since the war began.
U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric reported the warning from the World Food Program and said Gaza’s Health Ministry told U.N. staff in Gaza that five people died over the last 24 hours from malnutrition and starvation.
The ministry says 121 adults and 101 children have died of malnutrition-related causes during the war.
“Against this backdrop, humanitarian supplies entering Gaza remain far below the minimum required to meet people’s immense needs,” Dujarric said.
The U.N. and its humanitarian partners are doing everything possible to bring aid into Gaza, he said, but still face significant delays and impediments from Israeli authorities that prevent the delivery of food and other essentials at the scale needed.
Hamas-led combatants abducted 251 people and killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in that 2023 attack. Most of the hostages have been released in ceasefires or other deals.
Israel’s air and ground offensive has since displaced most of Gaza’s population, destroyed vast areas and pushed the territory toward famine. It has killed more than 61,400 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not say how many were fighters or civilians but says around half were women and children.
The ministry says 121 adults and 101 children have died of malnutrition-related causes during the war.
The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals. The U.N. and independent experts consider it the most reliable source on war casualties. Israel disputes its figures but has not provided its own.
Israel says it struck combatants disguised as aid workers
In a separate development, the Israeli military said it recently struck a group of combatants in Gaza who were disguised as aid workers and using a car with the logo of international charity World Central Kitchen.
The army said it carried out an airstrike on the men after confirming with the charity that they were not affiliated with it and that the car did not belong to it.
World Central Kitchen confirmed that the men and the vehicle were not affiliated with it. “We strongly condemn anyone posing as World Central Kitchen or other humanitarians, as this endangers civilians and aid workers,” it said in a statement.
The military shared video footage showing several men in yellow vests standing around a vehicle with the charity’s logo on its roof. The military said five of the men were armed.
The charity, founded in 2010, dispatches teams that can quickly provide meals on a mass scale in conflict zones and after natural disasters.
In April, an Israeli strike killed seven World Central Kitchen workers in Gaza. Israel quickly admitted it had mistakenly killed the aid workers and launched an investigation.
In November, an Israeli strike killed five people, including a World Central Kitchen worker who Israel said was part of the Hamas attack that sparked the war. The charity said at the time that it was unaware the employee had any connection to the attack.
Associated Press reporters Samy Magdy and Fay Abuelgasim in Cairo and Edith M. Lederer in New York contributed.
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