GAZA: Egypt on Sunday hosted envoys for talks on a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinians, the latest diplomatic effort as Gaza officials reported more deadly bombardment in the nearly five-month-old war.
A senior Hamas official said that a delegation from the Palestinian group would discuss with mediators a proposal for a six-week truce, after a US official said Israel had broadly accepted its terms.
Envoys from the United States, Qatar and Hamas have arrived in Cairo, as all sides have been scrambling to lock in a truce before Ramadhan, the Muslim fasting month that begins on March 10 or 11.
The officials said that if Israel were to meet the demands — which have included a military withdrawal from Gaza and stepped-up humanitarian aid — this would "pave the way for an agreement within the next 24-48 hours".
The health ministry in the Gaza Strip said at least 90 Palestinians had been killed in the past 24 hours, including 14 family members whose house in the southern Rafah refugee camp had been hit.
Two of them, twin babies Naeem and Wissam Abu Anza, were buried on Sunday, a photographer said, as their mother Rania was crying in agony.
Relative Shehda Abu Anza said there were "only civilians" at the family home.
"All of them were sleeping when suddenly a missile hit and destroyed the whole house," he said while family members and other residents searched the rubble with their bare hands for bodies and also to salvage food.
In a sign of the worsening humanitarian crisis in the narrow coastal territory, ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said at least 16 children had died of malnutrition in recent days as "famine spreads" in the north.
As Gaza faces dwindling deliveries of relief supplies across its land borders, Israel's top ally the United States carried out a first airdrop, joining several Arab and European government that have parachuted in aid since November.
But officials and aid groups have said such operations are limited in scope and cannot replace overland aid access.
The Palestinian officials said they would demand "the entry of at least 400 to 500 trucks per day" carrying food, medicine and fuel as part of a truce deal.
The US official, speaking to reporters late on Saturday, said "there's a framework deal" for a ceasefire which could start "today if Hamas agrees to release" elderly, women and ill captives.
Israel had yet to confirm that it has accepted the truce plan or whether it would attend the Cairo talks. — AFP
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