Gaza Truce Talks Underway As Israel Vows To Push Further South

(CTN News) – A possible ceasefire in Israel’s war against Hamas would only delay a ground invasion of Gaza’s southern city of Rafah, where more than half of the territorial population lives.

Despite US-backed mediation efforts, Palestinians have fled northern Gaza due to dire food shortages.

In the latest effort to secure a truth before Ramadan, Egyptian, Qatari and US experts met in Doha for talks also attended by Israeli and Hamas representatives.

Netanyahu said the military operation into Rafah, on Gaza’s southern border with Egypt, puts Israel weeks from “total victory” over Hamas.

Having a deal will prevent the looming ground invasion feared to cause more mass civilian casualties in Rafah, where nearly 1.4 million Palestinians have congregated – most of them displaced.

Netanyahu said he’ll do it anyway, even without a deal.

As soon as we start the operation, total victory is within reach – not months away, weeks away.

Jake Sullivan said representatives met over the weekend in Paris without Hamas to discuss the details of a temporary ceasefire, including a hostage deal.

After more than four months of fighting and looting, desperate families in Gaza’s north have had to scavenge for food.

The ‘uninhabitable’

A reporter for AFP said hundreds headed south, walking along garbage-strewn roads between bombed-out buildings.

Samir Abd Rabbo, 27, arrived with his 1-year-old daughter at the Nuseirat camp in central Gaza on foot from northern Gaza.

His baby girl couldn’t digest bread made from animal feed without milk, he said. God is the only one who can help us.

A displaced man in Jabalia, northern Gaza, says the area is “completely uninhabitable” and food is scarce.

It’s even harder to get animal fodder now, he said, and wild herbs are gone, people took them all.

In Khan Yunis, near Rafah, Israeli forces fought Hamas in heavy urban combat and started striking targets across the Palestinian territory.

An AFP tally of official figures shows that 1,160 people were killed in Israel in Hamas’s unprecedented attack.

According to Israel, Hamas also took about 250 Israelis and foreigners hostage, 130 of whom still remain in Gaza.

Gaza’s health ministry says Israel’s offensive has killed 29,692 people, mostly women and children.

Hamas and Israel have been talking for weeks about a temporary truce, exchanging hostages for prisoners, and stepping up aid.

They hope a deal can be reached before Ramadan starts on March 10 or 11.

During a meeting with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, Jordan’s King Abdullah II warned “that the war will continue on Gaza during Ramadan, which will increase the threat of an expansion of the conflict”.

Several hundred Palestinian detainees could be exchanged for dozens of female, underage and ill hostages in a six-week truce, according to reports.

Netanyahu has called Hamas’ demand for a full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza “delusional”.

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