Israel said on Friday it would send a delegation to Qatar for fresh talks on a ceasefire and hostage release in Gaza, keeping faint hopes for a truce alive despite rejecting a long-awaited counter-offer from Hamas.
Smoke rises following an Israeli strike as Palestinians fleeing north Gaza due to Israel’s military offensive move southward, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, at the central Gaza Strip, March 15, 2024. Reuters/Ahmed Zakot
Israel said on Friday it would send a delegation to Qatar for fresh talks on a ceasefire and hostage release in Gaza, keeping faint hopes for a truce alive despite rejecting a long-awaited counter-offer from Hamas.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office also said he had approved a plan for an assault on Rafah, the city on the southern edge of the Gaza Strip where more than half of the territory's 2.3 million residents are sheltering, though it gave no timeframe for such an attack.
Negotiators failed this week to reach a ceasefire agreement for the Gaza war in time for the Ramadan Muslim holy month. But Washington and Arab mediators are still determined to reach a deal to head off an Israeli assault on Rafah and let in humanitarian aid to stave off mass starvation.
The first ship bringing food aid by sea arrived off the Gaza coast on Friday morning, where an aid agency says it is building a temporary jetty to offload it.
Meanwhile, Israel has emphasised that in the absence of a ceasefire deal it is pressing on with war plans.
"Prime Minister Netanyahu has approved the plans for action in Rafah. The IDF (Israeli Defence Force) is preparing operationally and for the evacuation of the population," Netanyahu's office said in a brief statement.
"Regarding the hostages - Hamas's demands are still unrealistic. An Israeli delegation will leave for Doha after the security cabinet discusses Israel's position."
Even Israel's closest ally Washington has pleaded with it not to assault Rafah, arguing that this would cause a humanitarian catastrophe. Israel says it would evacuate residents first.
By Bassam Masoud, Nidal al-Mughrabi and Samia Nakhoul
An apparent drone attack - claimed by the Iranian-backed Houthi militia - hit central Tel Aviv in the early hours of Friday, killing one man and slightly wounding four others, the Israeli military and emergency services said.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told his U.S. counterpart that military operations in the Gaza Strip have created conditions that would enable a hostage deal to be reached, Gallant's office said on Wednesday.
A meeting of the United Nations Security Council on the Middle East was briefly interrupted on Wednesday when two protesters stood with signs and yelled for the release of Israeli hostages held by Palestinian militants Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
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