An Israeli delegation has arrived in Egypt to continue ceasefire talks as Israel and Hamas consider the latest proposal. That’s according to three Egyptian airport officials who didn’t give details. International mediators continue to push Israel and Hamas toward a phased deal that would halt the fighting and free about 120 hostages held by the militant group in Gaza, The AP reported.
Talks between the sides were rattled over the weekend when Israel said it targeted Hamas’ military commander in a massive strike. His status remains unclear.
Two international courts have accused Israel of war crimes and genocide – charges Israel denies. Most of Gaza’s 2.3 million people are crammed into squalid tent camps in central and southern Gaza. Israeli restrictions, fighting and the breakdown of law and order have limited humanitarian aid efforts, causing widespread hunger and sparking fears of famine.
Meanwhile, Israel released 13 Palestinians after detaining them for weeks, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said Wednesday.
The Palestinian paramedic group said they were taken from an Israeli checkpoint in the Gaza Strip to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the central city of Deir al-Balah. Some wept when they were reunited with their relatives. Others showed signs of bruising to journalists.
One of those released, Zakaria Abu al-Eish, said he was caring for his ill father in the Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza when Israeli forces stormed their home and detained him.
“For 55 days, I was handcuffed, blindfolded, deprived from sleeping, no rest, even food they brought us was for animals,” al-Eish told The AP. “If you eat or not, no one cares. They dealt with us as non-humans.”
