Israel strengthens its offensive in Rafah as truce negotiations with Hamas progress

Israel and Hamas were moving towards one agreement to reach a ceasefire and free the hostages took place in the war-torn Gaza Strip, according to sources close to the negotiations, while meetings between the two sides continued in Cairo on Tuesday after a series of failed attempts in recent weeks.

Despite this, the dialogue continued to advance Israel intensifies its offensive on Rafahthe southern city of the enclave where 1.4 million displaced Palestinians have fled to take refuge from fighting in other areas.

The city of Rafah, at the southern tip of the Strip, came under Israeli army artillery fire on Tuesday, for the first time since Israel announced a ground incursion into the area on Friday. The shooting began this morning and came from Israeli tanks stationed in Israeli territory near the border with the Strip, near the Kerem Shalom crossing, Gaza sources said.

Israel on Monday rescued two prisoners of Argentine origin in the town near the Egyptian border in an operation that killed at least 74 Palestinians, according to local health officials, and left a trail of destruction.

An agreement would give the people of Gaza the respite they desperately need after five months of war It would free the approximately 100 people who remain prisoners in the Palestinian enclave. As the war intensifies, efforts mediated by Qatar, the United States and Egypt to forge a truce have been hampered by the starkly opposing positions of Hamas and Israel.

Israel has made the destruction of Hamas’ government and military capabilities and the release of hostages its main objectives in this war, which began on October 7, after thousands of rebels led by the ultra-Islamic terrorist group stormed the south of Israel and killed 1,200 people. mostly civilians, and according to Israeli authorities they took around 250 people hostage, including women and children. Tens of thousands of Israelis were forced to leave the destroyed communities.

The war has caused unimaginable destruction in Gaza, with more than 28,000 deaths, of which more than 70 percent are women and children, according to local health authorities. Vast areas of the territory have been devastated by the offensive, around 80% of the population has been displaced and more than a quarter of the population has nothing to eat due to the serious humanitarian crisis.

The fate of the hostages

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised that the offensive would continue until “total victory” and insisted that a strong military presence in the enclave would ensure the hostages’ freedom, an idea that his allies said was reinforced by rescue mission. on Monday.

But those freed, Fernando Marman, 60, and Louis Har, 70, are only the second and third prisoners freed by their forces since the war began.

Other Israeli officials have stressed that only an agreement can achieve the release of so many hostages.

In late November the two sides agreed to a brief truce in exchange for the release of around 100 people. Some 240 Palestinians imprisoned in Israel were also freed as part of the agreement. According to Israel, around 30 hostages died or were murdered in captivity and their bodies remain in Gaza. Three of the prisoners were killed by mistake by Israeli forces in December and a female soldier was freed during a rescue mission in the first weeks of the war.

Differences

A senior Egyptian official noted that the mediators achieved what he described “relatively significant” progress. in negotiations between Israel and Hamas ahead of a meeting to be held in Cairo on Tuesday between representatives of Qatar, the United States and Israel. He added that the head of the Mossad, the Israeli secret service, David Barnea, was in the Egyptian capital.

The meeting will focus on “writing a final draft.” a six-week ceasefire agreementwith the guarantee that the parties will continue negotiations to achieve a definitive cessation of fighting, the official added.

A Western diplomat in the city confirmed that a proposal for a six-week agreement is on the table, but warned that much work remains to be done to conclude the pact.

Tuesday’s meeting will be crucial to bridge the gap that remains for the two sides to sign a truce and engage in dialogue for a final agreement, he added.

The two officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to disclose the sensitive conversations to the media.

New offensive and more deaths

Signs of progress have come despite the fighting. Palestinians continue to count casualties from the Israeli rescue operation, which rose to 74 on Tuesday. Palestinian residents and displaced Palestinians searched through the rubble of air strikes providing cover for Israeli ground forces.

As concern grew in Rafah over housing for the Palestinians arriving en masse, Fighting continued throughout the Strip. The army said its troops were fighting rebels in the territory’s second-largest city, Khan Yunis, and in the centre.

The Israeli army reported the deaths of three soldiers in combat on Tuesday, bringing the death toll to 232 since the ground campaign in Gaza began in late October.

Gaza’s Hamas-controlled Health Ministry said hospitals in Gaza received the bodies of 133 victims of Israeli attacks last day. With these, the number of deaths in the Strip since the start of the war on October 7 amounts to 28,473, the department added, noting that there are more than 68,000 wounded.

Source: AP