Global News Desk:
The health ministry in Gaza,
under the control of Hamas, reported today that the death toll has surpassed
30,000 Palestinians since Israel initiated its offensive in Palestine almost
five months ago.
While mediators say a truce deal
between Israel and Hamas could be just days away, aid agencies have sounded the
alarm of a looming famine in Gaza's north.
Children have died "due to
malnutrition, dehydration and widespread famine" at Gaza City's Al-Shifa
hospital, said the health ministry, whose spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra has called
for "immediate action" from international organisations to prevent
more of these deaths. Citing the deteriorating conditions in Gaza, USAID head
Samantha Power said Israel needed to open more crossings so that "vitally
needed humanitarian assistance can be dramatically surged".
"This is a matter of life
and death," Power said in a video posted on social media platform X. The
latest overall toll for Palestinians killed in the war came after at least 79
people died overnight across the war-torn Gaza Strip, the health ministry said
Thursday.
Mediators from Egypt, Qatar and
the United States have been seeking a six-week pause in the war sparked by
Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel, which in response vowed to eliminate the
Palestinian Islamist group that rules in Gaza.
Negotiators are hoping a truce
can begin by the start of Ramadan, the holy Muslim month that kicks off March
10 or 11, depending on the lunar calendar. The proposals reportedly include the
release of some Israeli hostages held in Gaza in exchange for several hundred
Palestinian detainees held by Israel.
Short of the complete withdrawal
Hamas has called for, a source from the group said the deal might see Israeli
forces leave "cities and populated areas", allowing the return of
some displaced Palestinians and humanitarian relief. US President Joe Biden is
"pushing all of us to try to get this agreement over the finish
line", said his secretary of state, Antony Blinken.
- Famine 'imminent' -
The crucial southern Gaza city of
Rafah is the main entry point for aid crossing the border from neighbouring
Egypt. But the World Food Programme said no humanitarian group had been able to
deliver aid to the north for more than a month, accusing Israel of blocking
access.
Neighbouring Jordan has
coordinated efforts to air-drop supplies over southern Gaza. "If nothing
changes, a famine is imminent in northern Gaza," the World Food
Programme's deputy executive director Carl Skau said.
Israeli officials have denied
blocking supplies, and the army on Wednesday said "50 trucks carrying
humanitarian aid" had made it to northern Gaza in recent days.
The war was triggered by an
unprecedented Hamas attack on southern Israel that resulted in the deaths of
around 1,160 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official
Israeli figures.
Militants also took about 250
hostages, 130 of whom remain in Gaza, including 31 presumed dead, according to
Israel.
Israel's retaliatory military
campaign in Gaza has left hundreds of thousands displaced, with nearly 1.5
million people now packed in Rafah.
In a sign of growing desperation
among Gazans over living conditions, a rare protest was held Wednesday by
residents over the soaring prices of commodities. "Everyone is suffering
inside these tents," said Amal Zaghbar, who was displaced and sheltering
in a makeshift camp.
"We're dying slowly."
Israel has repeatedly threatened
a ground offensive on Rafah, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying a
truce would only delay it, as such an operation was needed for "total
victory" over Hamas.
Egypt -- which borders Rafah --
says an assault on the overcrowded city would have "catastrophic
repercussions".
- No one 'left behind' -
While Israel's plans for post-war
Gaza exclude any mention of the Palestinian Authority, its top ally the United
States and other powers have called for a revitalised PA, which governs the
occupied West Bank, to take charge of the territory.
Palestinian foreign minister
Riyad al-Maliki said a "technocratic" government without Gaza's
rulers Hamas was needed to "stop this insane war" and facilitate
relief operations and reconstruction. His government, based in the West Bank,
resigned this week, with prime minister Mohammad Shtayyeh citing the need for
change after the war ends.
A government that includes Hamas
-- longtime rivals of president Mahmud Abbas's Fatah party, which controls the
PA -- would "be boycotted by a number of countries", Maliki told a
news conference in Geneva.
On Thursday, Palestinian factions
-- including Hamas and Fatah -- were expected to arrive in Moscow for a meeting
at Russia's invitation.
"The central goal is how to
unite the Palestinian ranks," Mustafa Barghouti of the Palestinian
National Initiative -- a civilian political party -- told Qatar state TV from
Moscow. In Israel, Netanyahu has come under increasing pressure to bring the
hostages home.
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav
Gallant insisted the government was "making every effort". A group of
150 Israelis started a four-day march from Reim, near the Gaza border, to
Jerusalem, calling for the government to reach a deal. "No one should be
left behind," said Ronen Neutra, father of captive Omer Neutra, an Israeli
soldier who is also a US citizen. (News Source By The Daily Star)