Gaza ceasefire talks between Palestinian Hamas and mediators in Cairo broke down today.
There are no results, although there are only a few days left to end the fight before the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, The Guardian reported. Senior Hamas official Bassem Naim told Reuters they had presented their proposal for a ceasefire agreement to mediators during two days of talks and were awaiting a response from the Israelis, who did not come to Cairo.
“(Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu does not want to reach an agreement and the ball is now in America’s court to put pressure on him,” Naim said. Israel has refused to comment publicly on the Cairo talks.
Officials said, however, that Israel did not send the delegation because it is demanding that Hamas present a list of 40 elderly, sick and female hostages to be released first under the ceasefire, which would initially last for six weeks.
Hamas, meanwhile, is demanding that large-scale humanitarian aid be allowed to flow into Gaza and that Palestinians displaced from their homes in the south be allowed to return.
13,430 children have been killed in Israeli airstrikes and ground operations in the Gaza Strip since October 7, according to the Gaza Media Office.
It noted that 8,900 women were killed over 150 days, adding that 7,000 people, 70 percent of whom are women and children, are still under the rubble or missing.
The media office announced that 364 health workers and 132 journalists lost their lives in that period.
Warning of growing hunger in Gaza, the office said Israel had prevented the entry of food and aid supplies, and had even targeted aid vehicles trying to reach the region, causing the deaths of dozens of people seeking food for their families.
Israel launched a deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, killing at least 30,534 people and injuring 71,920.
On January 26, following a genocide lawsuit filed by the Republic of South Africa, the International Court of Justice ruled that Israel must refrain from any actions related to the killing, attacks and destruction of the residents of the Gaza Strip and take all measures to prevent genocide.
Attacks continue unabated, and the delivery of aid remains insufficient to address the humanitarian disaster.
The Ministry of Health in Gaza has announced that at least 15 children have died in the past few days due to malnutrition and dehydration at Kamal Adwan Hospital.
“We fear for the lives of another six children who are suffering from malnutrition and diarrhea in the intensive care unit,” said ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra.
The hospital is facing a dire situation due to the electrical generator not working, lack of oxygen, and shortage of medical staff.
The hospital director announced on Friday that seven children had died due to severe dehydration and malnutrition.
The hospital has been non-functional for months due to Israeli attacks and a shortage of fuel and medications.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned on Sunday of the increasing number of child deaths in the Gaza Strip.
At least fifteen Palestinian children have died of dehydration and malnutrition at Kamal Adwan Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip as Israel tightens its blockade of the area.
“There are probably even more children fighting for their lives somewhere in the few remaining hospitals in Gaza, and there are probably even more children in the north who cannot get care at all,” said Adele Khodr, UNICEF’s regional director for the Middle East and North Africa, adding that “these tragic and horrific human-caused deaths” are predictable and preventable.
She warned of acute shortages of food, drinking water and medical services in Gaza.
According to the UN agency, almost 16 percent, or one in six children under the age of two, are acutely malnourished in northern Gaza.
“We now have the deaths of children that we feared, and the number is likely to increase rapidly if the war does not end and the obstacles to humanitarian aid are not removed immediately,” Khodr said.
She appealed to allow humanitarian agencies to deliver aid to Gaza from all possible border crossings.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza announced that the death toll from Israeli attacks on Gaza in the past 24 hours had increased by 90, reaching 30,410.
