Hamas is attempting to secure a ceasefire

The leader of Hamas met with Iranian officials on Wednesday, before flying to Egypt for what one source described to Reuters as intensive talks on a new ceasefire that would let aid reach desperate civilians in Gaza and free Israeli hostages held captive for more than two months.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, who normally resides in Qatar, has in the past intervened in diplomacy publicly only once progress appears likely.

Haniyeh last traveled to Egypt in early November before the announcement of a prior ceasefire that secured a week-long pause during which more than 100 hostages were released.

The hostages have been held since Hamas fighters rampaged through Israeli communities on October 7, killing 1200 people and taking more than 200 captive, including young children.

Israel readied trauma support specialists to meet the needs of those returning, and some of them described the challenge as "uncharted territory."

"It basically introduced new forms of trauma for children and their families that we never witnessed before."

Professor Asher Ben-Arieh is a specialist in child trauma at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

"How do you explain to a child that he Is safe now, when he's seen his safest place, his bedroom, burned and his parents murdered in his house?"

Most of the remaining captives are adult men and women, and some of them are elderly.

"My father, Gadi Moses, was kidnapped from Nir Oz on October 7. We didn't hear anything about him until last night when the movie was published and it was the first sign of life that we got for two and a half months."

Yair Moses saw his 79-year-old father in a video released by Hamas's armed wing this week.

“We're happy to see it, but from the other hand, we are very worried. He looks very thin, very exhausted, five or 10 years older than what he was three months ago and we are very worried about his condition and his well-being.”

As mediators in Egypt and Qatar shuttle between Israel and Hamas, there remains a huge gulf between the two sides' publicly stated positions on any halt to fighting.

"We affirm our position of categorically rejecting to hold any form of negotiations over prisoners' exchange..."

A Hamas spokesperson earlier this week said the group rejects any further temporary pause and says it will discuss only a permanent ceasefire.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday said there could be no permanent truce with the Palestinian militants, saying Hamas members had two choices: surrender or die.

Israeli air and ground forces have launched a devastating operation in the densely-populated Palestinian enclave, one that has displaced an estimated 90 percent of Gaza's 2.3 million residents.

According to Palestinian health officials, almost 20,000 people have been killed so far in Israel's campaign to eliminate Hamas in Gaza.