One official said negotiators did not expect Hamas or Israel to permanently withdraw from the talks. A senior Egyptian official told state television that mediation efforts were still ongoing to bridge the conflict. The difference between Israel and Hamas.
Hamas is seeking an end to the war and a complete withdrawal of Israeli troops, while Israel has proposed a temporary ceasefire. Mr Netanyahu said Israel would not stop fighting until Hamas was eliminated and all hostages released.
U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq said Israel’s invasion of Rafah this week had displaced about 80,000 people there, most of whom were now seeking refuge in the southern city of Khan Younis or Deir al-Balah on the Mediterranean coast. , the two areas lack basic services, said on Thursday.
The Israeli military has told about 110,000 civilians to evacuate parts of Rafah, which has become a refuge for hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians, many of whom live in tents without adequate food, water and sanitation facilities.
Sign language interpreter Riyad al-Masri said Thursday that he and his extended family have left Rafah, although he has moved five times since the war began. He said the prospect of Operation Six was “torture beyond torture” but said nearby fighting left him with no choice.
“We are almost in danger,” Mr Masri said.
Mr Haq said cargo and fuel had not been coming in through the Rafah crossing in recent days and the hospital might have to shut down its generators within days. He said the World Food Program reported that its main warehouse in Gaza was inaccessible due to the fighting and that only one bakery in Gaza remained open.
Jens Laerke, spokesman for the United Nations humanitarian office in Geneva, described Rafah as a “highly active war zone” and said it posed a “serious challenge” to aid distribution in southern Gaza and further north in the region.
“We reiterate that the parties’ obligation to provide assistance is not limited to borders or evacuation zones,” he said. “Assistance must reach safely to those who need it.”
Report contributors: Matthew M’Poke Biggar, Iyad Abukhwila, Myra Novick, Aaron Boxerman, Ye Weiwei, Erica L. Green and Farnaz Fasihi.
