UPDATE: Talks resume for difficult truce in Gaza’s war
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Update: The families of Israeli captives in Gaza have urged Netanyahu to ignore political pressure and secure a deal that would bring their relatives home, according to the Channel Seven broadcaster.
The statement comes as far-right ministers in Netanyahu’s cabinet threaten to leave his coalition if the prime minister agrees to a ceasefire and captive release deal that would end the war on Gaza. Meanwhile Al Jazeera reports that Israeli forces kept up the bombardment of Gaza, killing a mother and her two children in northern Gaza City and wounding at least three Palestinians in southern Rafah. It also reported that Osama Hamdan, a senior spokesman for Hamas, said his group needs guarantees from the US that Israeli forces will not launch a ground assault on Rafah.
Earlier: Reports about ‘significant progress’ in the negotiations for a truce between Hamas and Israel were downplayed by Israel.
The Hamas delegation arrived in Egypt on Saturday to resume Gaza truce talks as Egyptian media reported “significant progress in the negotiations” between the Palestinian group and Israel.
A top Israeli official later downplayed the report, saying Israel will send a delegation to Cairo for talks on a Gaza truce only if it sees “positive movement” on a framework for a hostage deal. Meanwhile, a senior Hamas official insisted late Saturday that the group would “not agree under any circumstances” to a truce in Gaza that did not explicitly include a complete end to the war.
At least 34,654 Palestinians have been killed and an estimated 77,908 have been wounded in Israel’smilitary offensive in Gaza, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory. Some 1,170 people were killed in the Hamas-led October 7 attacks and 250 people were taken hostage, according to Israeli figures, with 132 still missing.
Meanwhile, thousands of Israelis protested on Saturday, demanding Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu accept a ceasefire agreement with the Islamist movement Hamas that would see the remaining Israeli hostages brought home from Gaza.
