The Israeli government has announced the continuation of the indirect negotiations on a hostage deal with the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
A delegation from the Israeli domestic intelligence agency Shin Bet and the Israeli military will travel to Cairo shortly, the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem announced on Thursday.
At the same time, the office confirmed that a team of negotiators had returned from the Qatari capital Doha on Wednesday night. Israeli delegates had met there with top representatives of Qatar, Egypt and the United States, all of which are acting as mediators in the talks.
Qatar in particular is in direct contact with Hamas, which Israel and the US regard as a terrorist organization. Israel estimates that Hamas is holding 120 hostages from Israel in the Gaza Strip, although many are of them are likely now dead.
The slow-moving talks centre on exchanging the hostages for Palestinian prisoners being held in Israeli prisons and about ways to achieve a lasting ceasefire in the Gaza war.
Hamas is demanding that Israel end the war quickly. Israel, on the other hand, wants to keep the option of military intervention in the Gaza Strip open even after the hostages have been released.
According to media reports, Hamas has recently shown flexibility in some of its positions.
Israeli negotiators had sounded optimistic after the round on Wednesday.
"We are close to an agreement on the principles of a deal," the Israeli TV station Channel 13 quoted a government official as saying.
Hamas, on the other hand, did not raise expectations. The group had not received any negotiation results from the mediators, it said in a statement, and accused Israel of "delaying" and "sabotaging" the ongoing talks.
UN warns of 'catastrophic levels of hunger' in Gaza
Israel launched its ongoing military offensive in the Gaza Strip after Hamas led unprecedented attacks on Israel on October 7 which kiled 1,200 people and included brutal massacres of civilians.
Hamas and other Palestinian extremist groups also abducted 250 people and took them as hostages to Gaza.
Israel has come under international criticism during the nine months of war for the extensive civilian casualties in the Gaza strip, the immense damage to buildings and infrastructure in the sealed-off territory and the catastrophic humanitarian situation.
On Thursday, the United Nations warned that nearly half a million people in the Gaza Strip are suffering from "catastrophic levels of hunger."
"Limited access & supplies has meant families often don't receive the food assistance they need," the UN said in a post on X.
The UN World Food Programme remains on the ground, but needs reliable access and relief supplies, the UN said.
According to a recent report by the Hamas-controlled health authority in Gaza, 38,345 Palestinians have been killed so far and a further 88,295 injured.
The figures make no distinction between civilians and armed fighters and cannot be independently verified by dpa.
Israel claims list of Hamas-linked UNRWA staff
Israel on Thursday said it has compiled a list of 108 employees of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) who are allegedly also active with Hamas.
Only a small number of the hundreds of UNRWA employees are said to be employed by Hamas or the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), the Israeli embassy in Berlin said.
Dpa could not independently verify the Israeli allegations.
Israeli accusations about UNRWA staff made headlines in January as Israel said several employees had been involved in the October 7 killings.
But an audit report by independent experts later concluded that UNRWA had established "robust" mechanisms to uphold its principle of neutrality, while noting there was room for improvement.
A spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry on Thursay said the list was also submitted to UN Secretary-General António Guterres, but has not yet been published by Israel.
UNRWA confirmed on request that it had received "a letter from the Israeli government with accusations against employees working in the Gaza Strip."
The letter contained the list of around 100 people who were said to be members of the military arm of Hamas, the agency said. "UNRWA takes these allegations seriously," it added.
It said it had replied to the letter and asked for information and cooperation. UNRWA said it has no resources to investigate the allegations, such as its own intelligence services.
Israeli troops were continuing military operations in UNRWA's headquarters on Thursday, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
Weapons had been found there on Wednesday, the IDF asserted.
UNRWA staff have not been using the HQ for normal operations since the start of the war. The IDF accused members of Hamas and of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad of using the UNRWA headquarters for terrorist purposes.
IDF: Senior Hamas officials killed
The IDF said on Thursday that Israeli forces had killed two senior Hamas officials over the past week.
The IDF identified one as Hassan Abu Kuik, alleged to have carried out numerous attacks on Israel. He headed internal security operations for Hamas in the central Gaza Strip, the IDF said. The other was a team leader of Hamas's military intelligence, the military added.
Separately, the IDF reported rockets being fired at Israel from around Rafah in the far south of the Gaza Strip during the morning, with several downed by Israeli air defences. The Israeli Air Force struck those responsible and killed them, it said.
Most Popular
Comments / 0