Israel will send a delegation to Qatar on Monday to advance ceasefire Negotiations in Gaza announced the office of the Israeli Prime Minister on Saturday.
A declaration from the Prime Minister’s office only gave any detail to say that she had “accepted the invitation of mediators supported by the United States”. The announcement on Saturday occurs while the ceasefire of the Gaza Strip is dangerously close to the collapse, because Israel and Hamas have both fell into the negotiations for terms of a second planned phase of the agreement. Discussions on the second phase should have started a month ago.
Meanwhile, food shortages on the territory have become acute and the Palestinians who live there again find it difficult to feed their families.
The ceasefire that started in mid-January brought a break from the Israel of bombing and offensive on the ground in Gaza aimed at destroying Hamas after its attack on October 7, 2023 against southern Israel. The first phase of the ceasefire saw the release of 25 Israeli hostages held by Hamas terrorists in Gaza and the bodies of eight others in exchange for the release of nearly 2,000 Palestinians imprisoned in Israel.
Abdul Hakim Abu Riash / Anadolu via Getty Images
But the second planned phase of the agreement – intended to bring the release of the remaining hostages and a sustainable truce and a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza – was questioned. Israel called Hamas to release half of its remaining hostages in return for a Extension of the ceasefire And a promise to negotiate a sustainable truce.
Since March 2, Israel Crossed out all food, fuel, medication and other supplies By entering Gaza for some 2 million people, demanding Hamas accepts the revised agreement.
Now, the Palestinians in the territory rush to the food they can find.
Mustafa Abu Shaaban, a blacksmith before the war, and his wife Rasha, try to create a semblance of normality for their children.
“Our life is difficult – we just want to live like everyone else,” Rasha told CBS News.
But while the frost begins to bite the sacred month of Ramadan, the pair has no idea that they will feed their four children.
“All our roads are only ruins,” says Mustafa, heading to the market. “Wherever I turn, these are just ruins.”
Prices have skyrocketed and serious shortages of milk, eggs, meat and cooking gas were reported in Gaza.
“We ask the world to help us stop the war,” said Mustafa. “We had enough suffering.”
Doaa Albaz / Anadolu via Getty Images
Under the ceasefire, Israeli forces withdrew in an area along the edges of Gaza. Early on Saturday, an Israeli strike killed two Palestinians in the southern city of Rafah in Gaza, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said. The Israeli army said it had hit several men who seemed to have piloted a drone who entered Israel from Gaza.
The military offensive of Israel killed more than 48,000 Palestinians in Gaza, mainly women and children, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health, which does not say how many deaths were activists.
The campaign was launched by the Hamas terrorist attack in October 2023, in which activists killed some 1,200 people, mainly civilians, inside Israel and took a total of 251 people hostage. Most were released in ceasefire agreements or other arrangements. Hamas would still have 24 living hostages and the bodies of 34 others.
Mr. Trump published what he called a “last warning” Wednesday in Hamas, to publish all the hostages still held in Gaza, leading a strongly written message after the White House confirmed that he had recently sent an envoy for unprecedented direct discussions with the group.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has sworn to “open the doors of hell” If Hamas does not do it Return all his hostages.
Muslim nations reject Trump’s call to empty the Gaza Strip of the Palestinians
The Muslim Nations Foreign Affairs Ministers rejected President Trump’s calls on Saturday to empty the Gaza Strip of its Palestinian population. They supported a plan for an administrative committee of the Palestinians to govern the territory to allow reconstruction to continue.
Foreign ministers met in the Saudi city of Djeddah for a special session of the organization of Islamic cooperation to approach the situation in Gaza.
Jehad Alshrafi / AP
In a statement published on Saturday, the rally launched its support for a Gaza reconstruction plan proposed by Egypt and supported by the Arab states, notably Saudi Arabia and Jordan, aimed at countering Mr. Trump’s call. OIC 57 nations groups with largely Muslim populations.
Without specifically mentioning Mr. Trump, the ministers said they rejected “plans aimed at moving the Palestinian people individually or collectively … As ethnic cleansing, a serious violation of international law and a crime against humanity.” They also condemned the “famine policies” which, according to them, aim to push the Palestinians to leave.
The OIC has also restored Syria as a member of the group.
contributed to this report.