Hamas’ top leader travelled to Cairo on Wednesday for talks on the war in Gaza, part of a flurry of diplomacy aimed at securing another ceasefire and swap of hostages for Palestinian prisoners at a moment when Israel’s offensive shows no signs of slowing.
Hamas militants have been putting up stiff resistance, even as the Israeli army claims to be making great progress in eradicating them.
The visit to Cairo by its top leader, Ismail Haniyeh, came a day after Hamas fired rockets that set off air raid sirens in central Israel.
It was a show of strength after a 10-week war that has devastated much of northern Gaza, killed nearly 20,000 Palestinians and driven some 1.9 million, nearly 85% of the population, from their homes.
Israel has called on the rest of the world to blacklist Hamas as a terrorist organisation, saying it must be removed from power in Gaza in the wake of its October 7th rampage across southern Israel that triggered the war.
But the sides have recently relaunched indirect talks, mediated by Egypt, Qatar and the US.
The goal is to achieve another ceasefire and free more of the hostages Hamas took in its attack in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.
Mobile phone and internet service was down across Gaza again on Wednesday, which could complicate efforts to communicate with Hamas leaders inside the territory who went into hiding after October 7th.
The war has led to a humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Tens of thousands of people are crammed into overcrowded shelters and tent camps amid shortages of food, medicine and other basic supplies.
Israel’s foreign minister travelled to Cyprus to discuss the possibility of establishing a maritime corridor that would allow the delivery of large amounts of humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Despite a burst of diplomacy by high-level officials in recent days, the two sides appeared to be far from an agreement.
Hamas has said no more hostages will be released until the war ends, and is expected to insist on the release of large numbers of Palestinian prisoners, including high-level militants, for the captives that remain.
Israel has rejected the demands so far. But it has a history of lopsided exchanges for captive Israelis and the government is under heavy public pressure to bring the hostages home safely.
Egypt and Qatar helped mediate a week-long ceasefire in November in which Hamas freed over 100 hostages in exchange for Israel’s release of 240 Palestinian prisoners.
Hamas and other militants are still holding an estimated 129 captives.
Hamas said that Haniyeh, who is believed to be based in Qatar but whose movements are rarely publicised, would discuss the war with Egyptian officials, without providing more details.
Ziad Nakhaleh, the leader of the smaller Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group, which took part in the October 7th attack and is also holding hostages, said he would also be going to Egypt in the coming days to participate in the talks.
Egypt, which borders Gaza, is deeply concerned about a potential influx of Palestinian refugees, fearing Israel will not allow them to return.
Meanwhile at least 46 people were killed and more than 100 wounded early on Wednesday after Israel bombarded the urban Jabaliya refugee camp near Gaza City, according to Munir al-Bursh, a senior health ministry official.
In southern Gaza, several women and children were among those taken to Nasser Hospital in the city of Khan Younis after strikes overnight and into Wednesday.
A boy could be seen sobbing next to his wounded mother, who was laid out on a stretcher, before being lifted up and placed on her chest.
At least five people were killed and dozens injured in another strike that hit three residential homes and a mosque in Gaza’s southern city of Rafah on Wednesday, health officials said.
With the death toll steadily rising, Israel has come under growing pressure to halt or scale back its offensive.
But Israeli leaders have vowed to press ahead until Hamas’ military and governing capabilities are destroyed and until all hostages are freed.
“We will continue the war until the end. It will continue until Hamas is destroyed, until victory,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday.
“Whoever thinks we will stop is detached from reality”, he added, saying every member of Hamas is “marked for death”.
His defence minister, Yoav Gallant, said on Tuesday that in southern Gaza, where the military launched a ground incursion focused on Khan Younis in early December, that operations will take months.
In Gaza, more than 90% of the population has been displaced.@UNHumanRights chief @volker_turk urges ceasefire as the number of civilians corralled towards the border with Egypt increases amid escalation of hostilities. https://t.co/bwUngcBnh4 pic.twitter.com/NbN5gQ7eMj
— United Nations (@UN) December 20, 2023
The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said on Tuesday that the death toll since the start of the war had risen to more than 19,600. It does not distinguish between civilian and combatant deaths.
Hamas and other militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in the October 7th attack.
Israel’s military says 134 of its soldiers have been killed in the Gaza ground offensive.
Israel says it has killed some 7,000 militants, without providing evidence. It blames civilian deaths in Gaza on Hamas, saying it uses them as human shields when it fights in residential areas.
UN Security Council members are negotiating an Arab-sponsored resolution to halt the fighting in some way to allow for an increase in desperately needed humanitarian aid deliveries to Gaza.
A vote on the resolution, first scheduled for Monday, was pushed back again until Wednesday as talks continued in the hopes of getting the US to abstain or vote “yes” on the resolution after it vetoed an earlier ceasefire call.
