Progress in indirect truce talks between Israel, Hamas

Palestinians in the besieged coastal enclave of the Gaza Strip have expressed hope of witnessing a real ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, as indirect negotiations have progressed after 118 days of bloody conflict in the territory.

According to media reports, a Hamas delegation is due in Egypt for truce talks. The delegation is expected to meet with Abbas Kamel, head of Egypt's General Intelligence Service, to discuss the framework agreement on a truce in Gaza issued by the recent Paris meeting, which outlined several stages to achieve a Gaza ceasefire, according to unnamed Palestinian sources.

The sources said that "so far, the negotiations have made significant progress, and we may witness a ceasefire in Gaza at the beginning of the next week if it is guaranteed that Israel will adhere to the Paris proposal."

The Palestinian death toll from ongoing Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip has exceeded 27,000, the Gaza-based Health Ministry said on Thursday.

The ministry said in a press statement that the Israeli army killed 118 Palestinians and wounded 190 others in the strip during the past 24 hours.

This brings the total number of deaths to 27,019 and injuries to 66,139 in the Palestinian enclave since the Israel-Hamas conflict broke out on October 7, 2023, it noted.

Next target: Rafah

The Israeli army has withdrawn from wide areas in the northern Gaza Strip for the first time since the start of the ground operation, eyewitnesses said on Thursday.

After the Israeli withdrawal, dozens of people headed to those areas to inspect their homes, while others retrieved the bodies of Palestinians killed by the Israeli army, according to witnesses.

Israeli forces have killed 10,000 Palestinian fighters and the same number have been wounded, Reuters cited Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant as saying on Thursday.

"We are achieving our missions in Khan Younis, and we will also reach Rafah and eliminate terror elements that threaten us," the minister's statement read, referring to a city on Gaza's border with Egypt that has been packed with displaced civilians.

Residents said Israeli forces had pounded areas around hospitals in Khan Younis overnight, and stepped up attacks close to Rafah, the Reuters report added. 

'Hard to imagine'

A senior official from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) announced on Thursday that the humanitarian situation of the over 2 million people in Gaza is at risk of worsening after 16 countries stopped financial support to the agency.

Thomas White, UNRWA operations official in Gaza, said in a statement that "thousands of people were forced to flee to the south due to bombings and fighting in Khan Younis last week, adding to over 1.4 million people already crowded in Rafah governorate."

"Most of them are living in temporary places, tents, or in the open, and now they also fear not receiving any food or other humanitarian assistance from the UNRWA, and it is hard to imagine that Gaza residents will be able to survive this crisis without the UNRWA."

All over Gaza, nearly 2 million people, mostly women and children, rely on the UNRWA to stay alive as the agency manages crowded shelters, food aid and primary healthcare, the official said, adding "their humanitarian situation worsens as the war continues and humanitarian aid remains severely restricted."

Furthermore, White reported that his organization continues to coordinate with the Israeli army to allow access to the northern Gaza Strip, but has been largely denied.

(With input from agencies)