Israeli soldiers on patrol near the Gaza Strip border in southern Israel. Photo / AP
Three days of negotiations with Hamas over a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of Israeli hostages failed to achieve a breakthrough, Egyptian officials said, less than a week before the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, the informal deadline for a deal.
The nearly five months of fighting left much of Gaza in ruins and created a worsening humanitarian catastrophe, with many, especially in the devastated northern region, scrambling for food to survive.
United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the humanitarian situation in Gaza was “unacceptable and unsustainable”.
“Israel has to maximise every possible means, every possible method, of getting assistance to people who need it,” he said, calling for more aid to be let in and ensuring it gets delivered.
The US, Qatar and Egypt have spent weeks trying to broker an agreement in which Hamas would release up to 40 hostages in return for a six-week ceasefire, the release of some Palestinian prisoners and an influx of aid to the isolated territory.
Two Egyptian officials said the latest round of discussions ended on Tuesday. They said Hamas presented a proposal that mediators would discuss with Israel in the coming days. One of the officials said mediators would meet with the Hamas delegation, which didn’t leave Cairo on Wednesday.
Hamas has refused to release all of the estimated 100 hostages it holds, and the remains of about 30 more, unless Israel ends its offensive, withdraws from Gaza and releases many Palestinian prisoners, including senior militants serving life sentences.
US officials have said they are sceptical Hamas wants a deal because the group has baulked at several what the US and others believe are legitimate requests, including giving the names of hostages to be released.
“It is on Hamas to make decisions about whether it is prepared to engage,” Blinken said.
“We have an opportunity for an immediate ceasefire that can bring hostages home, that can dramatically increase the amount of humanitarian aid getting in to Palestinians who so desperately need it, and can set the conditions for an enduring resolution,” Blinken said.
Jihad Taha, a Hamas spokesman, said the negotiations were continuing, but “the ball is in the Israeli court”. He said Israel had thus far refused Hamas’ demands for people who fled northern Gaza to be allowed to return and for guarantees of a long-term ceasefire and full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
“Hamas is open to proposals and initiatives that are consistent with its position calling for a ceasefire, withdrawal, the return of the displaced, the entry of relief convoys and reconstruction,” Taha said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has publicly rejected Hamas’ demands and repeatedly vowed to continue the war until Hamas is dismantled and all the hostages are returned. Israel did not send a delegation to the latest round of talks.
An Israeli official said Israel was still waiting for Hamas to hand over a list of hostages who are alive as well as the hostage-to-prisoner ratio it seeks in any release deal. It was not clear if that information was included in the latest proposal.
The Israeli and Egyptian officials spoke on condition of anonymity.
Benny Gantz, a member of Netanyahu’s War Cabinet and his main political rival, met with senior US officials in Washington on a visit that drew a rebuke from the Prime Minister, the latest sign of a growing rift within Israel’s leadership.
Mediators had hoped to broker an agreement before Ramadan, the month of dawn-to-dusk fasting that often heightens Israeli-Palestinian tensions linked to access to a major holy site in Jerusalem. It is expected to begin about March 10, depending on the sighting of the moon.
“The negotiations are sensitive. I can’t say there is optimism or pessimism, but we haven’t yet reached a point at which we can achieve a ceasefire,” Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said on Monday.
The war began with a Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7 in which Palestinian militants killed some 1200 people and took about 250 hostages. More than 100 of them were released during a weeklong ceasefire in November.
The attack sparked an Israeli invasion of the enclave of 2.3 million people that Gaza’s Health Ministry says has killed more than 30,000 Palestinians. Aid groups say the fighting has displaced most of the territory’s population and pushed a quarter of the them to the brink of famine.
The UN children’s agency said on Monday that at least 10 children had reportedly died in isolated northern Gaza because of dehydration and malnutrition.
“There are likely more children fighting for their lives somewhere in one of Gaza’s few remaining hospitals, and likely even more children in the north unable to obtain care at all,” Adele Khodr, the Unicef regional director for the Middle East and North Africa, said.
“These tragic and horrific deaths are man-made, predictable and entirely preventable,” she said.
The Gaza Health Ministry said on Sunday that 15 children had starved to death at the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza and another six were at risk of dying from malnutrition and dehydration. It was not clear if the children had underlying medical conditions that increased their vulnerability.
Northern Gaza, the first target of Israel’s offensive, has suffered mass devastation. The World Food Programme recently suspended aid shipments to the north, citing a security breakdown. An attempt by the Israeli military to bring in aid ended in tragedy last week when over 100 Palestinians were fatally shot by Israeli forces or trampled to death in a melee.
The United States and Jordan airdropped 36,800 meals over northern Gaza on Tuesday, the second US airdrop since Saturday.
Up to 300,000 Palestinians are believed to remain in northern Gaza after Israel ordered the evacuation of the entire region, including Gaza City, in October. Many have been reduced to eating animal fodder to survive. The UN says one in six children under 2 in the north suffers from acute malnutrition.
The US and other countries have carried out airdrops in recent days, but aid groups say the expensive, last-ditch measure is not enough to address the soaring needs.
Israel is still carrying out strikes in all parts of Gaza and has threatened to expand its ground offensive to the southernmost city of Rafah, where about half of Gaza’s population have sought refuge. Gantz has said the Rafah operation could begin as soon as Ramadan if there is no deal on the hostages.
Gaza’s Health Ministry said 97 people had been killed over the past 24 hours, bringing the overall Palestinian death toll to 30,631. The ministry does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its figures, but says women and children make up about two-thirds of the total casualties.
Israel says it tries to avoid harming civilians and blames the high toll on Hamas because the militants operate in dense, residential areas. But the army rarely accounts for individual strikes, which often kill women and children.
– Goldenberg reported from Tel Aviv, Israel, and Shurafa from Rafah, Gaza Strip. Associated Press writers Abby Sewell in Beirut and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed.