GAZA STRIP
\nTalks resumed in Egypt on Saturday aimed at halting months of war in Gaza between Hamas and Israel that have triggered protests around the world.
\nMediators from Qatar, Egypt and the United States sat down with a Hamas delegation to hear the group\u2019s response to a proposal that would halt fighting for 40 days and exchange hostages for Palestinian prisoners, according to details released by Britain.
\nIsrael has yet to send a delegation to Cairo, with a top official telling AFP that it would do so only if there was \u201cpositive movement\u201d on the proposed framework.
\n\u201cTough and long negotiations are expected for an actual deal,\u201d the Israeli official cautioned.
\nPrevious negotiations stalled in part on Hamas\u2019s demand for a lasting ceasefire and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s repeated vows to crush the group\u2019s remaining fighters in the southern city of Rafah, which is flooded with displaced civilians.
\nThe prospect of an assault on Rafah has sparked deepening international concern.
\nThe United Nations says more than 70 per cent of Gaza\u2019s residential buildings have been completely or partly destroyed, and rebuilding will require an effort unseen since the aftermath of World War II.
\nAccepting a ceasefire deal with Israel should be a \u201cno-brainer\u201d for Hamas, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said late Friday.
\n\u201cThe reality in this moment is the only thing standing between the people of Gaza and a ceasefire is Hamas,\u201d Blinken said.
\nThe World Health Organisation says 1.2 million people, half of the Gaza Strip\u2019s population, have sought refuge in Rafah.
\nWHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebr\u00adeyesus warned \u201ca full-scale military operation in Rafah\u2026 could lead to a bloodbath.\u201d
\nUN humanitarian office spokesman Jens Laerke said an assault on Rafah could \u201cstrike a disastrous blow\u201d to agencies struggling to provide aid.
\n\u2018Open mind\u2019
\nEgypt\u2019s Al-Qahera News, which is linked to the intelligence services, quoted an unidentified high-ranking source as saying \u201cthere is significant progress in the negotiations\u201d and that the mediators have \u201creached an agreed-upon formula on most points of contention\u201d.
\nA senior Hamas official told AFP before the talks resumed that the movement \u201clooks with an open mind to changes in the occupation\u2019s (Israel\u2019s) position and the American position, but there are issues that must be addressed\u201d.
\nHamas official Hossam Badran accused Netanyahu on Friday of trying to undermine the latest truce proposal with his threats. Badran said Netanyahu\u2019s insistence on attacking Rafah was calculated to \u201cthwart any possibility of concluding an agreement\u201d.
\nThe top Israeli official, who spoke anonymously, said: \u201cWhat we are looking at is an agreement over a framework for a possible hostage deal.\u201d He said that the sign of progress \u201cwould be if we send a delegation led by Mossad (intelligence service) chief (David Barnea) to Cairo\u201d.
\nThe continued captivity of Israeli hostages in Gaza has caused rising political tensions, with some protesters accusing Netanyahu of seeking to prolong the war.
\nDemonstrators have regularly taken to Israeli streets demanding the government reach a deal to bring the hostages home.
\nThe Israeli government says 128 hostages remain in Gaza, including 35 the military says are presumed dead.
\nUS President Joe Biden has come under mounting domestic pressure to leverage more concessions from Netanyahu\u2019s government over its conduct of the war.
\nA letter by 88 congressmen from Democratic Party expressed concern over Israel\u2019s \u201cdeliberate withholding\u201d of aid for Palestinians urged Biden to consider halting arms sales unless Israel\u2019s conduct changes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
GAZA STRIP Talks resumed in Egypt on Saturday aimed at halting months of war in Gaza between Hamas and Israel that have triggered protests around the world. Mediators from Qatar, Egypt and the United States sat down with a Hamas delegation to hear the group\u2019s response to a proposal that would halt fighting for 40 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":404979,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-404961","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n