GAZA STRIP
\nAt least 61 Palestinians were killed in overnight Israeli bombardment taking the death toll up to 31,645 people, the health ministry in Gaza said on Sunday, as Israel was preparing to send negotiators to new truce talks in Qatar.
\nIsrael\u2019s security cabinet and the smaller war cabinet were to meet to \u201cdecide on the mandate of the delegation in charge of the negotiations before its departure for Doha\u201d, the Israeli prime minister\u2019s office said.
\nIts statement did not specify when the delegation would leave for the latest round of talks which comes after Hamas submitted a new proposal for a pause in fighting and release of prisoners.
\nMore than five months of war and an Israeli siege have led to dire humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip, where the United Nations has repeatedly warned of looming famine for the coastal territory\u2019s 2.4 million people.
\nAs the flow of aid trucks into Gaza has slowed, a second ship was due to depart from Cyprus along a new maritime corridor to bring food and relief goods, Cypriot officials said.
\nOn Saturday the US charity World Central Kitchen said its team had finished unloading supplies from a barge towed by Spanish aid vessel Open Arms which had pioneered the sea route.
\nThe United Nations has reported particular difficulty in accessing north Gaza, where residents say they have resorted to eating animal fodder, and where some have stormed the few aid trucks that have made it through.
\nThe head of the UN World Health Organisation, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, appealed to Israel \u201cin the name of humanity\u201d not to launch an assault on Rafah.
\nAn evacuation planned by the Israeli army ahead of launching its assault was not a practical solution, Tedros argued, noting that Palestinians there do not \u201chave anywhere safe to move to\u201d.
\n\u201cThis humanitarian catastrophe must not be allowed to worsen,\u201d he said on social media platform X.
\nIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has faced domestic pressure to secure the release of captives captured by Hamas since the start of the war, with protesters in Tel Aviv on Saturday carrying banners urging a \u201chostage deal now\u201d.
\n\u201cThe civilians\u2026 need to demand from their leaders to do the right thing,\u201d said demonstrator Omer Keidar, 27.
\nThe Hamas proposal calls for an Israeli withdrawal from \u201call cities and populated areas\u201d in Gaza during a six-week truce and more humanitarian aid, according to an official from the Palestinian group.
\nWith the situation on the ground increasingly dire, aid donors have turned to deliveries by air or sea.
\nBut air and sea missions are no alternative to land deliveries, UN agencies say. Humanitarian groups have cited Israeli restrictions as among the obstacles they face.
\nThe United States, which provides Israel with billions of dollars in military assistance, has also grown increasingly critical of Netanyahu over his handling of the war.
\nWashington has said it cannot support Israel\u2019s long-threatened operation against Hamas in Rafah without a \u201ccredible, achievable, executable plan\u201d to protect Palestinian civilians.
\nThe crisis has only grown worse in Rafah, said medical staff at a clinic run by Palestinian volunteers that offers treatment for displaced Gazans.
\n\u201cWe\u2019re facing shortages of medications, especially paediatric medicines,\u201d said Dr Samar Gregea, herself displaced from Gaza City in the north.
\n\u201cThere are a lot of patients in the camp, with all children suffering from malnutrition,\u201d she told AFP, also reporting the \u201cwidespread presence of hepatitis A\u201d.
\nChildren require foods high in sugars, like dates, which are currently unavailable, she said.
\nIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that Israeli troops would pursue a planned ground offensive in southern Gaza\u2019s Rafah that has spurred fears of mass civilian casualties.
\n\u201cNo amount of international pressure will stop us from realising all the goals of the war: eliminating Hamas, releasing all our hostages and ensuring that Gaza will no longer pose a threat against Israel,\u201d Netanyahu told a cabinet meeting in a video released by his office.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
GAZA STRIP At least 61 Palestinians were killed in overnight Israeli bombardment taking the death toll up to 31,645 people, the health ministry in Gaza said on Sunday, as Israel was preparing to send negotiators to new truce talks in Qatar. Israel\u2019s security cabinet and the smaller war cabinet were to meet to \u201cdecide on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":394685,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-394667","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n