A new round of negotiations aimed at a ceasefire in Gaza Strip starts today Sunday in Cairo, with Hamas is expected to give its “official response” to the proposal drawn up in late January by US, Qatari, Egyptian and Israeli negotiators, according to an AFP source close to the Palestinian Islamist movement.
The same time, the first US aid shipment to the Palestinians was sent on Saturday, with more than 30,000 meals parachuted in from three military planesas the humanitarian crisis continues to grow in Gaza.
The Israel is reportedly close to accepting a six-week truce proposal for Gaza, a senior Biden administration official told multiple US news outlets on Saturday.
Regarding the Israel-Hamas agreement, an American official said that there is a “framework agreement” and Israel has “more or less accepted” a ceasefire to allow the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza and to allow aid to be delivered to the bomb-ravaged territory.
The truce will allow the release of hostages in Gaza who are considered the most vulnerableincluding women, the elderly and the wounded, and the flow of aid to the besieged coastal enclave.
However, the official said that Hamas has yet to agree on a “defined category of vulnerable hostages” – a sticking point in the deal. Israel has reportedly said that ceasefire talks will not resume until Hamas presents a list of hostages, including who is dead and who is alive.
The proposal calls for a “first phase” of a six-week ceasefire and the release of 42 hostages held in the Gaza Strip in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
Three C-130s dropped supplies into Gaza
At the same time, with people in Gaza on the brink of starvation, the United States carried out its first airdrop of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, which the UN says is at risk of starvation after nearly five months of war. between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas, which has claimed the lives of more than 30,300 people.
The operation comes two days after Israeli soldiers opened fire on a hungry crowd that had rushed an aid convoy inside Gaza City, a tragedy that claimed the lives of 116 people, according to the Islamist Palestinian movement.
Faced with the difficulties of transporting humanitarian aid by road, mainly to the northern part of the besieged territory, countries have recently parachuted shipments, notably Jordan with the support of France, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, as well as Egypt in cooperation with the united arab emirates.
“Airdrops cannot and should not replace humanitarian access”however, warned the non-governmental organization International Rescue Committee (IRC).
“We received two bags of flour from the aid that arrived on the day of the massacre in Gaza on Thursday”, said Hisham Abu Eid, a 28-year-old resident of the Zeitoun district: “This is not enough. Everyone is hungry. Aid is scarce and insufficient.”
Three US military planes dropped 66 “parcels” equivalent to more than 38,000 meals in a joint operation with Jordan, according to the official of the US military command in charge of the Middle East (Centcom).
Source: News Beast
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