Hamas going to Cairo ‘in positive spirit to reach an agreement’
Hamas officially confirmed in a statement it will send a delegation to Cairo on Saturday to “complete” mediated negotiations. A top leader in the group, Khalil al-Hayya, will lead the delegation.
The group emphasised its previous position that it looks at the proposal in a “positive spirit”.
“We are going to Cairo in the same spirit to reach an agreement. We in Hamas and the Palestinian resistance forces are determined to achieve an agreement that fulfils our people’s demands for a complete cessation of the aggression, the withdrawal of the occupation forces, the return of the displaced, relief and reconstruction, and a serious exchange deal,” a statement said.
Netanyahu is the obstructionist in negotiations: Hamas official
Husam Badran has accused the Israeli prime minister of issuing statements aimed at undermining prospects for a truce.
The senior Hamas official told the Agence France-Presse news agency that the group was in the process of conducting internal dialogues among its leaders and with allied groups before negotiators return to Cairo to continue negotiations towards a truce.
But he warned that Netanyahu’s repeated statements insisting he will send forces into Rafah were calculated to “thwart any possibility of concluding an agreement”. “Netanyahu was the obstructionist in all previous rounds of dialogue and previous negotiations, and it is clear that he still is,” Badran said in a telephone interview.
“He is not interested in reaching an agreement, and therefore, he says words in the media to thwart these current efforts.” Badran reiterated that Hamas’s goal remains a lasting ceasefire and “a complete and comprehensive withdrawal of the occupation forces from the Gaza Strip”.
The negotiations have been over basically the same 3 step plan proposal for over 4 months now...
Israel promises Rafah attack in a week unless Hamas agrees to terms: Report
Israel has reportedly given Hamas one week to agree to a truce and prisoner-captive exchange deal, threatening it will begin its ground invasion of Rafah otherwise.
Egyptian officials conveyed this message from Israeli leaders to the armed Palestinian group on Thursday, according to the Wall Street Journal, which cited unnamed Egyptian sources briefed on the matter.
Publicly, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has continued to promise an invasion of Rafah regardless of a deal with Hamas. The Palestinian group has said it’s “looking positively” at the latest proposals mediated through Egypt.
An earlier news report said CIA Director William Burns is now in Cairo, and a Hamas delegation is expected soon as well.
Rafah invasion could lead to a ‘bloodbath’: WHO
The World Health Organization (WHO) says it’s deeply concerned a threatened Israeli ground invasion of Rafah in southern Gaza “could lead to a bloodbath”.
“Only 33 percent of Gaza’s 36 hospitals and 30 percent of primary healthcare centres are functional in some capacity amid repeated attacks and shortages of vital medical supplies, fuel, and staff,” it said.
“As part of contingency efforts, WHO and partners are urgently working to restore and resuscitate health services, including through expansion of services and pre-positioning of supplies, but the broken health system would not be able to cope with a surge in casualties and deaths that a Rafah incursion would cause.”
The al-Najjar, al-Helal and Kuwait hospitals are now partially operational in Rafah and would “quickly become nonfunctional”, it says. The European Gaza Hospital in east Khan Younis – also in southern Gaza – which is also partially functional, could become unreachable because of the invasion.
“Given this, the south will be left with six field hospitals and al-Aqsa Hospital, in the middle area, serving as the only referral hospital.”
The Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, where hundreds of bodies were dug out of mass graves, some bearing marks of torture, is being restored by the WHO, with the UN organisation and its partners also trying to establish more primary health centres.
Israel hasn’t presented ‘comprehensive plan’ for Rafah invasion: US
White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre says Washington has been “clear” with Israel about its concerns over “any major military operations” in the southern city of Rafah and the danger posed to 1.5 million civilians there.
“We want to make sure their lives are protected. We believe the Israeli government is going to take our concerns into account,” she told reporters during a press briefing.
“But we have not seen a plan, comprehensive plan, and we want to make sure that those conversations continue because it is important to protect those Palestinian lives, those innocent lives, those more than a million citizens who are seeking refuge in that part of Gaza in Rafah.”
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