GAZA: International mediators were with Palestinian negotiators in Cairo Tuesday for talks on a truce to pause nearly five months of fighting in Gaza before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which begins early next week.
Envoys from the Palestinian groups and the United States were expected to meet with Qatari and Egyptian mediators for a third day of negotiations on a six-week truce, the exchange of dozens of remaining captives for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and increased aid to Gaza.
Israeli negotiators have so far stayed away from the talks, despite growing diplomatic pressure for a truce to take effect before Ramadan.
Israeli media reported that the country's negotiating team boycotted the talks after Hamas did not provide a list of living captives.
Senior Hamas leader Bassem Naim said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was to blame for obstructing the talks and said it was for the United States to stop the war before Ramadan, saying the "ball is in their court".
Israel has said it believes 130 of the 250 captives taken in the October attack that triggered the war remain in Gaza, but that 31 have been killed.
As conditions in the besieged Palestinian territory deteriorate and the spectre of famine looms, Israel has faced increasingly sharp rebukes from its top ally the United States.
Vice President Kamala Harris expressed "deep concern about the humanitarian conditions in Gaza" during talks in Washington on Monday with Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz.
Fighting in Gaza continued, with authorities reporting dozens of Israeli air strikes near the European Hospital in Hamad, near Gaza's main southern city of Khan Yunis.
The Israeli army said it was conducting targeted raids in Hamad and had captured dozens of Palestinian fighters who were hiding.
Its jets had struck 50 targets across the Gaza Strip in the past day, the army said.
The health ministry in the territory said 97 people had been killed overnight, mostly women and children.
Khan Yunis residents described finding decomposing bodies lying in streets lined with destroyed homes and shops.
Tensions between Israel and the United Nations erupted on Monday, with Israel recalling its ambassador over the handling of allegations of assault by Palestinians during the October attack.
Israel accused the United Nations of taking too long to respond to the claims, as the world body published a report on Monday that said there were "reasonable grounds to believe" assaults were committed in the attack. — AFP
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
