Gaza death toll nears 30,000 as UN warns of ‘imminent’ famine

Fighting raged yesterday in the besieged Gaza Strip, where the reported death toll neared 30,000 as mediators insisted a truce in the Israel-Hamas conflict could be just days away.

The Hamas-ruled territory’s health ministry reported another 91 deaths in overnight Israeli bombardment in Gaza, while UN agencies sounded the alarm on dire humanitarian conditions and food shortages.

Mediators from Egypt, Qatar, and the United States have been trying to find a path to a ceasefire amid the bitter fighting, seeking a six-week pause in the nearly five-month war.

After a flurry of diplomacy, mediators said a deal could finally be within reach, reports AFP.

Hamas urged Palestinians yesterday to march to Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque at the start of Ramadan next month, raising the stakes in negotiations for a truce in Gaza, which US President Joe Biden hopes will be in place by then.

The call by Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh followed comments by Biden, broadcast on Tuesday, that there was an agreement in principle for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas during Ramadan, while hostages held by the militants are released.

Biden said he hoped such an agreement, which a source said would also allow more aid into the stricken Palestinian enclave and bring the release of Palestinians prisoners, could be finalised by March 4. The Muslim holy month of Ramadan is expected to begin on the evening of March 10.

Both Israel and Hamas have played down the prospects for a truce and Qatari mediators have said the most contentious issues are still unresolved.

Israel said on Monday it would allow Ramadan prayers at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque but set limits according to security needs, setting the stage for possible clashes if crowds of Palestinians turn up and Gaza violence is still raging.

“This is a call on our people in Jerusalem and the West Bank to march to Al-Aqsa since the first day of Ramadan,” said Haniyeh, according to Reuters.

In a televised speech, he said Hamas was showing flexibility in negotiations with Israel but at the same time was ready to continue fighting. Israel has said any deal with Hamas would require the group to drop “outlandish demands”.

Hamas is weighing a proposal, agreed by Israel at talks with mediators in Paris last week, for a 40-day ceasefire, which would be the first extended truce of the five-month-old war. Both sides have delegations in Qatar this week hammering out details.

A senior source close to the talks said Israeli troops would pull out of populated areas under the agreement. But it did not appear to meet Hamas’s demand for a permanent end to the war and Israeli withdrawal, or resolve the fate of fighting-age Israeli men among those being held by Hamas.

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki said yesterday he did not expect “miracles” at talks in Moscow to discuss the formation of a unified Palestinian government and the rebuilding of Gaza.

The talks between representatives of Hamas and the Fatah political faction, scheduled to take place in the Russian capital on Thursday, come days after Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh resigned.

The shake-up, Maliki said, was designed to build support for an expanded role for the Palestinian Authority following Israel’s war against the Islamist group Hamas in Gaza.

“We hope that there we might be good results in terms of mutual understanding between all factions about the need to support such a technocratic government that will emerge,” Maliki said of the talks.

“Of course, we don’t expect miracles to happen in just a simple meeting in Moscow, but I believe that the meeting in Moscow should be followed by other meetings in the region soon.”

Meanwhile, Gaza health ministry said that 29,954 people have been killed in the Palestinian territory during the war between militants and Israel.

The toll includes at least 76 deaths in the past 24 hours, while 70,325 people have been wounded since the conflict began on October 7, a ministry statement said.

• Hamas urges Palestinians to march to Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque at the start of Ramadan
• Both Israel, Hamas have played down prospects for truce
• Israeli strikes killed 76 Palestinians in 24 hours

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