GAZA: Talks to reach a Gaza truce were expected to resume Sunday after officials from the Palestinian movement, Hamas, and Israel publicly disagreed over demands to end their seven-month war.
While mediation took place in Egypt, the head of the UN's World Food Programme said "there is famine" in northern Gaza, and appealed for a ceasefire.
The war's impact has been increasingly felt around the world as pro-Palestinian university students from Australia to Mexico and Europe follow the example of protest encampments set up in the United States.
Gaza's bloodiest-ever war began following October 7 attack on Israel that resulted in the deaths of more than 1,170 people, according to Israeli official figures.
Vowing to destroy the Palestinian groups, Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed at least 34,654 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the territory's health ministry.
Negotiators have proposed a 40-day pause in the fighting and an exchange of captives for Palestinian prisoners, according to details released by Britain.
It would be the first such truce since a week-long ceasefire saw 105 captives released last November in exchange for Palestinians held by Israel.
Qatari, Egyptian and US mediators met a Hamas delegation in Cairo and a senior source close to the negotiations said that there would be "a new round" of talks.
After "no developments" in the first round, a senior Hamas official separately insisted late Saturday that the group would "not agree under any circumstances" to a truce that did not explicitly include a complete end to the war, including Israel's withdrawal from Gaza.
The official condemned Israeli efforts to secure a captive-release deal "without linking it to ending the aggression on Gaza".
He accused Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of "personally hindering" truce efforts due to "personal interests".
A source with knowledge of the negotiations had said Israel's proposal contained "real concessions" including a period of "sustainable calm", but the source said Israel's withdrawal from Gaza remained a likely point of contention.
The Israeli official on Saturday, however, said that in Tel Aviv that Israel has not agreed to any guarantees that the war will end.
Previous negotiations stalled in part due to Hamas's demand for a lasting ceasefire and Netanyahu's vows to crush the group's remaining fighters in the far-southern city of Rafah, where half of Gaza's population is sheltering.
Israel has yet to send a delegation to Cairo. The Israeli official said it would do so only if there were "positive movement" on the proposed framework. "Tough and long negotiations are expected for an actual deal," the official added. — AFP
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