Diplomatic pressure increases for ceasefire between Israel and Hamas

International mediators and delegates of Hamas They meet this Tuesday in Cairo to try to agree a truce in Loop before the start of the Muslim holy holiday of Ramadan.

Representatives of the Palestinian Islamist group and the United States are scheduled to meet with delegates from Qatar and Egypt on the third day of negotiations for a six-week truce, the exchange of dozens of hostages in exchange for prisoners, and the entry of aid to Gaza.

So far, Israel has not participated in this new round of talks, despite growing diplomatic pressure to reach a ceasefire before Ramadan, which begins next week.

According to Israeli media, the country’s mediators boycotted the talks because Hamas refused to provide a list of living hostages.

In a statement to AFP, Bassem Naim, a senior Hamas leader, accused Israel of blocking the negotiations and said that “the ball (is) in the field” of the United States, Israel’s main ally.

Israel estimates that 130 of the 250 hostages kidnapped by Hamas commandos on October 7 are still being held in Gaza, but that 31 have died.

With deteriorating humanitarian conditions and the threat of famine in Gaza, pressure on Israel to accept a ceasefire continues to grow, including from Washington.

The Vice President of the United States, Kamala Harris, expressed her “deep concern” over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza during a meeting Monday with Benny Gantz, a member of the Israeli war cabinet.

On the same day, the World Health Organization (WHO) said it discovered horrific scenes of children dying of hunger and severe shortages of food, medicine and fuel for generators on an aid mission to two hospitals in northern Gaza.

“The lack of food caused the death of 10 children,” said the director of the WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, after the mission carried out over the weekend.

In Hamad, near Khan Yunis (southern Gaza), local authorities reported dozens of Israeli airstrikes near the European Hospital.

The Israeli army indicated that it was carrying out selective attacks and that the day before it had detained dozens of Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters there who were hiding among the civilian population.

Israeli aircraft struck 50 Hamas targets across the Gaza Strip on Monday, according to the military.

Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry said 97 people died in the past 24 hours, mostly women and children.

Residents reported finding decomposed bodies lying in the streets in front of destroyed houses and shops.

“We want to eat and live. Look at our houses. What do they blame me for, a alone, unarmed person with no income in this impoverished country? lamented Nader Abu Shanab.

Sacrificing “an entire generation”

In its Oct. 7 attack on Israel that sparked the war, Hamas killed 1,160 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on Israeli data.

In response, Israel launched an offensive that has left 30,631 dead in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to Hamas.

The humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where 2.2 million people could fall into famine, is aggravated by tensions between the United Nations Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) and Israel, which calls for its dismantlement.

Israel accuses the agency of employing “more than 450 terrorists” from Hamas and other Gaza organizations, and claims that 12 of its employees participated in the October 7 attack.

UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini told the UN General Assembly on Monday that dismantling the agency would sacrifice “a whole generation of children” in Gaza.

Attacks in Lebanon

The war reverberates in other parts of the Middle East, with almost daily clashes between Israeli forces and the Lebanese Hezbollah movement.

“A diplomatic solution is the only way to end hostilities”US envoy Amos Hochstein declared in Beirut on Monday.

On Monday, one foreign worker was killed and seven injured in northern Israel, near the Lebanese border, in a missile attack.