Israel prepares for more ceasefire talks; UN says Gaza food crisis worsens

The main UN aid agency operating in Gaza said on Saturday that acute malnutrition was accelerating in northern area of the Palestinian enclave.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said one in three children under the age of two in northern Gaza is now acutely malnourished. "Children's malnutrition is spreading fast and reaching unprecedented levels in Gaza," UNRWA said in a social media post. Hospitals in Gaza have reported some children dying of malnutrition and dehydration.

On Friday, in response to Hamas presenting a new proposal for a ceasefire and a hostage and prisoner exchange, Israel said it would send a delegation to Qatar for more talks with mediators.

The delegation will be led by the head of Israel's Mossad intelligence agency, David Barnea, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seeking to convene his security cabinet to discuss the proposal before the talks start. Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan told Al Jazeera the group's proposal is so realistic that "no one can object to it" and claimed mediators had reacted positively. However, Netanyahu's office has said the latest offer is still based on "unrealistic demands."

The Hamas offer, reviewed by Reuters, foresees dozens of Israeli hostages freed in return for hundreds of Palestinians in Israeli jails during a weeks-long ceasefire that would let more aid into Gaza. Hamas also called for talks in a later stage on ending the conflict, but Israel has said it is only willing to negotiate a temporary truce.

Families of Israeli hostages and their supporters again gathered in Tel Aviv, urging a deal for their release. At the same time, anti-government protesters, estimated by Israeli media at a few thousand, called for new elections and blocked streets in Tel Aviv.

Efforts failed to secure a temporary ceasefire before Islam's holy month of Ramadan started a week ago, and Israel said on Friday it planned a new offensive against an Hamas stronghold in Rafah, the last relatively safe city in Gaza after five months of war.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, starting a visit to the region, voiced concern about an assault on the city, saying there was a danger it would result "in many terrible civilian casualties".

(With input from Reuters)