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ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR
🔴 Live: Gaza talks in Cairo make ‘significant progress’ as Rafah prepares for Israeli offensive
Talks in Cairo aimed at brokering a truce between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip have made “significant progress”, Egyptian outlet Al-Qahera reported Monday. The news comes a day after Israel pulled its troops out of parts of southern Gaza to regroup for future offensives, including in Rafah. Follow FRANCE 24’s live coverage of the Israel-Hamas war.
Issued on: 08/04/2024 – 05:00
2 min
An Israeli tank maneuvers near Israel’s border with Gaza, April 7, 2024.
An Israeli tank maneuvers near Israel’s border with Gaza, April 7, 2024. © Amir Cohen, Reuters
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Summary:
According to reports from the Egyptian news outlet Al-Qahera on Monday, talks in Cairo aimed at brokering a truce between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip have made “significant progress”.
Israel on Sunday pulled its troops out of southern Gaza, including the city of Khan Younis, the military said. Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said troops were pulled out “to prepare for future missions, including … in Rafah”.
Preliminary hearings open Monday at the UN top court in a case filed by Nicaragua that seeks an end to German military and other aid to Israel, based on claims that Berlin is “facilitating” acts of genocide and breaches of international law.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Israel was just “one step away from victory” in Gaza, adding that he would not agree to a ceasefire “without the return of hostages” during a cabinet address on Sunday.
At least 33,175 Palestinians have been killed and 75,886 wounded since Israel began its offensive on Gaza, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run enclave. Around 1,170 people were killed in the Hamas-led October 7 attacks and 250 people taken hostage, according to Israeli figures, with 132 still missing.
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3 hours ago
Israel is pulling some troops from southern Gaza
Israel’s military announced Sunday it had withdrawn its forces from the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, wrapping up a key phase in its ground offensive against the Hamas militant group and bringing its troop presence in the territory to one of the lowest levels since the six-month war began.
But defense officials said troops were merely regrouping as the army prepares to move into Hamas’s last stronghold, Rafah. “The war in Gaza continues, and we are far from stopping,” said the military chief, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi.
Local broadcaster Channel 13 TV reported that Israel was preparing to begin evacuating Rafah within one week and the process could take several months.
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4 hours ago
Gaza ceasefire talks make ‘significant progress’
Talks in Cairo aimed at brokering a truce between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip have made “significant progress”, Egyptian outlet Al-Qahera reported Monday.
The state-linked outlet reported “significant progress being made on several contentious points of agreement”, citing a high-ranking Egyptian source.
Egypt, Qatar and key Israeli ally the United States have mediated previous rounds of negotiations, but a workable agreement to end the six-month war has remained elusive.
Al-Qahera reported that Qatari and Hamas delegations had left Cairo and were expected to return “within two days to finalise the terms of the agreement”.
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Yesterday’s key developments:
CIA director Bill Burns and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani met with Egyptian officials for indirect talks on Sunday between Israeli and Hamas delegations.
The Israeli military’s killing of seven aid workers in Gaza has triggered unprecedented criticism from European leaders, who are stepping up calls for a ceasefire and in some cases halting arms sales to Israel as the war’s toll mounts.
Iraq agreed on Sunday to send 10 million litres of fuel to the Gaza Strip in support of the Palestinian people, Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said.
Thousands gathered on Sunday in front of Israel’s parliament to demand the return of the hostages abducted by Hamas militants in Gaza exactly six months ago.
World Central Kitchen founder Jose Andres raised questions Sunday over the Israeli probe into a strike that killed seven of his staff in Gaza, and warned that the conflict had become a “war against humanity itself”.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP & Reuters)
About casualty figures from Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry:
Gaza’s health ministry collects data from the enclave’s hospitals and the Palestinian Red Crescent.
The health ministry does not report how Palestinians were killed, whether from Israeli airstrikes and artillery barrages or errant Palestinian rocket fire. It describes all casualties as victims of “Israeli aggression”.
The ministry also does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
Throughout four wars and numerous skirmishes between Israel and Hamas, UN agencies have cited the Hamas-run health ministry’s death tolls in regular reports. The International Committee of the Red Cross and Palestinian Red Crescent also use the numbers.
In the aftermath of war, the UN humanitarian office has published final death tolls based on its own research into medical records. The UN’s counts have largely been consistent with the Gaza health ministry’s, with small discrepancies.
For more on the Gaza health ministry’s tolls, click here.
(FRANCE 24 with AP)
