The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said on Sunday that more than 13,000 children had died in Gaza as a result of the Israeli attack, adding that many of them suffered from severe malnutrition and did not have "even the energy to cry."

“Thousands of others have been injured or we cannot even locate them,” the organization’s executive director, Katherine Russell, told CBS on Sunday. “They may be trapped under the rubble... We have not seen this rate of deaths among children in almost any other conflict in the world.”

“I have been in the wards for children suffering from severe anemia and malnutrition, and the entire ward is completely quiet,” It added. Because babies and children...don't even have the energy to cry.”

Russell said there were “very significant bureaucratic challenges” to getting aid trucks into Gaza.

The United States mission to the United Nations distributed the fifth draft of the draft resolution, related to the war on Gaza and the catastrophic humanitarian conditions suffered by more than two million Palestinians.

Members of the Security Council have demanded that it be placed in blue so that it is ready to be voted on within 24 hours, but the United States is still procrastinating in the hope that an agreement will be reached on a ceasefire and the release of detainees through Egyptian-Qatari mediation. The United States distributed the draft resolution in its first draft on February 20, the day it used its veto against the Algerian draft resolution.

In its current draft, the draft resolution did not call for an immediate ceasefire, and the reference to a “six-week” ceasefire was removed. The draft resolution now states in its first working paragraph that the Security Council “unequivocally supports international diplomatic efforts to achieve a ceasefire.” “An immediate and sustained ceasefire as part of a deal that releases hostages and provides the basis for a more sustainable peace and relief of human suffering.” The overwhelming majority of Council members want to see clear language demanding an immediate ceasefire.

On the other hand, the draft resolution, in its amended text, consisting of 26 working paragraphs, states not a rejection of the expected Israeli military operation in Rafah, but rather an expression of concern about any expansion of the military operation in Rafah and the dangers of military action on the civilian population under the current circumstances.

The second paragraph in the current draft of the US draft resolution indicates support for the window that the ceasefire will provide for a diplomatic effort to create the conditions for a sustainable reduction of hostilities and the establishment of lasting peace, as stipulated in UN Security Council Resolution 2720 (2023).

In its third working paragraph, the draft resolution calls for adherence to international humanitarian law, including with regard to action regarding the protection of civilians and civilian monuments and the protection of humanitarian aid, health workers and medical infrastructure.

The fourth paragraph calls for expanding and accelerating the delivery of humanitarian aid to all parts of Gaza, and the necessity of removing all barriers and obstacles to humanitarian aid, according to the text of Security Council Resolution 2712 (2023). The draft resolution also calls for the delivery of aid from all crossings, the opening of other crossings, the benefit of sea lines when available, and the need to provide protection for those crossings.

In its fifth paragraph, the draft resolution rejects the forced displacement of the civilian population in Gaza, which constitutes a violation of international law, international humanitarian law, and international human rights law.

The draft resolution also calls on Hamas and other armed groups to immediately allow “humanitarian communication with the remaining hostages.” The draft resolution calls for stopping the financing of “terrorist movements.”

The draft resolution also emphasizes the need to respect and protect hospitals and health and medical workers. It calls on all parties to respect all humanitarian notifications and distribution mechanisms to ensure the safety of UN staff and humanitarian workers. The resolution also calls on all parties to cooperate with the United Nations Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator, Ms. Sigrid Kaag.

Working Paragraph 22 relates to the necessity of respecting the Blue Line in southern Lebanon and calling on all parties to exercise restraint, while Paragraph 23 condemns in the strongest terms the Houthi attacks on ships crossing the Red Sea and demands that they be stopped immediately. Paragraphs 24 and 25 also indicate the importance of working to achieve a lasting peace based on mutual recognition, respect for human rights, protection from violence and incitement, and a commitment to the two-state solution: Israel and Palestine living side by side in peace within recognized borders, in harmony with United Nations resolutions, as the project confirms. The decision is based on the unity of the West Bank and Gaza Strip under the leadership of the Palestinian Authority.

Democratic Senator from Maryland, Chris Van Hollen, said that allegations that the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) cooperated with Hamas are a "pure lie."

Speaking on CBS' "Face the Nation," the Democratic senator said the demonization of UNRWA in connection with the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel was an attempt by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to get rid of the agency, once and for all.

“There is no doubt that the claim being made by Prime Minister Netanyahu and others, that UNRWA is in some way a proxy for Hamas, is just outright lies,” Van Hollen told host Margaret Brennan. “This is an outright lie. If you look at the person in charge of operations on the ground in Gaza for UNRWA, you will find that he is a former US Army soldier who spent 20 years in the army. You can be sure that he is not in collusion with Hamas. Netanyahu has wanted to get rid of UNRWA since 2017 at least".

Some Republicans on Capitol Hill, including Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine), Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), and Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina), have called for defunding the agency. But Van Hollen said UNRWA's work remains essential at a time when many Gazans are experiencing severe hardship due to the ongoing war.

He also said that if there were specific members of UNRWA who cooperated with Hamas, they should be held accountable.

“There have been allegations by the Netanyahu government that as many as 14 of these 13,000 people were involved in the horrific October 7 attacks,” Van Hollen said. He added: "We must investigate the matter, and we must hold all these people accountable. But for goodness sake, let us not hold accountable two million innocent Palestinian civilians who are starving to death, and let us not hold them accountable, fundamentally, for the bad actions committed by 14 people."

At dawn on Monday, the Israeli forces launched a massive campaign of raids and arrests in the West Bank.

In Nablus, two young men, Arafat Jamal Ramadan and Nasr al-Din Khaldoun Asida, were arrested after their homes were stormed in the village of Tal, southwest of Nablus.

In Ramallah, the Israeli forces arrested the two young men, Abdullah Hassan Hamdan and Moamen Nazzal, after storming their homes in the town of Arora, northwest of Ramallah.

Meanwhile, Mahmoud Al-Shafi’i was arrested after a raid on his house in the suburb of Dhanaba, east of Tulkarm, and Muhammad Hashem Subha from the town of Attil, north of the governorate.

In Hebron, the Israeli  forces arrested Bilal Omar Al-Badarin and Mustafa Al-Aneed after raiding their homes and tampering with their contents in the town of Al-Samu.

In Bethlehem, the Israeli forces stormed the Dheisheh camp and raided a number of citizens’ homes, tampered with their contents, and subjected many citizens to field investigation before arresting Mamoun Ismail Al-Masry, Bashar Fouad Salem, and the freed prisoner Rawda Abu Ajamiya.

While the young man, Ali Ahmed Khal Qabha (38 years old), was arrested after his family’s home was raided and searched in the town of Ya’bad in Jenin.

In Tubas, special forces infiltrated the town of Tammoun and raided a house, followed by military reinforcements from the direction of the Hamra checkpoint, passing through the Al-Faraa camp, where the house in Tammoun was completely surrounded and the young man, Ahmed Nabil Jadallah, was arrested.

The second batch of humanitarian aid arrived in northern Gaza yesterday, Sunday, while the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Refugees (UNRWA) warned that people in the Strip are on the brink of famine, and Oxfam accused Israel of violating international humanitarian law by preventing aid from entering the Strip.

The second batch arrived in the city of Jabalia, north of Gaza, via Salah al-Din Street, which connects the south and north of the Strip. This came after the Israeli army allowed, for the second day in a row, a limited number of aid trucks to reach the area.

The second convoy included 9 trucks carrying flour, rice, canned food, and sugar. Al Jazeera’s correspondent said that the aid was placed in UNRWA warehouses in preparation for distribution to families.

The entry of aid, over the past two days, is the first of its kind to reach the northern Gaza Strip governorate since the end of last November. The stifling Israeli siege on northern Gaza caused widespread hunger and the death of about 27 Palestinians due to malnutrition and dehydration.

A matter of life and death

Despite the limited access to aid, criticism of Israel continued, and UNRWA warned that people in Gaza were on the brink of famine, and stressed the need for the largest possible number of them to have access to the necessary aid.

The agency stressed that safe, sustainable and unhindered access to all parts of the Gaza Strip is a matter of life and death, and added that delivering aid by land is the most efficient and safe way.

For its part, the NGO Oxfam accused Israel of "deliberately" preventing the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza, including food and medical equipment, in violation of international humanitarian law.

Oxfam said in a report on Monday: “Despite its responsibility as an occupying power, Israel’s practices and decisions continue to systematically and deliberately obstruct and prevent any meaningful international humanitarian response in the Gaza Strip.”

The NGO denounced "unfairly ineffective" aid inspection protocols that lead to delays of "20 days on average" to allow trucks to enter the Palestinian enclave. It also condemned "attacks against humanitarian workers and humanitarian convoys."

It criticized the "daily" ban on some equipment classified as "dual-use", which is materials considered usable for military purposes, and explained that water bags or water analysis tools had been rejected in one of her shipments "without reason", before they were later approved.

Oxfam explained that some equipment necessary for the work of her employees, such as communication or protection equipment, or electrical generators to operate her offices, is also subject to restrictions.

The NGO also noted “access restrictions” for humanitarian workers, particularly in the northern Gaza Strip.

Oxfam said, "The conditions we witnessed in Gaza are worse than catastrophic," and explained that 2,874 trucks entered Gaza in February, or "only 20% of the daily aid" that was entering before the Israeli aggression on October 7. This increased the suffering of the Gaza Strip's population of 2.2 million people.

The Ministry of Health in Gaza said that the Israeli army committed 8 massacres against families in the Gaza Strip, including 81 killed and 116 injuries to hospitals during the past 24 hours, which raises the death toll to 31,726 dead and 73,792 injured since last October 7.

It pointed out that there are still a number of victims under the rubble and on the roads, and ambulance and civil defense crews cannot reach them.

Here are the latest developments: Israeli tanks and bulldozers continue to besiege and storm the Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza amid heavy gunfire.

A number of citizens were killed and others were injured during the Israeli occupation forces' storming of Al-Shifa Medical Hospital in Gaza City.

According to the Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip, medical teams are unable to save the injured due to the intensity of the Israeli fire targeting them and targeting anyone who approaches the windows.

The Ministry also confirmed that a fire broke out at the hospital gate, causing suffocation cases among the displaced and trapped women and children until this moment, while the occupation cut off communications from them.

Meanwhile, local sources indicated that the occupation forces arrested dozens of citizens from inside Al-Shifa Medical Complex.

In Nuseirat, medical sources reported that 9 citizens were killed and a number of others were injured after the Israeli warplanes bombed a house in the Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip.

Violent clashes are taking place in the vicinity of the hospital between the resistance and the Israeli forces, which suddenly entered under heavy fire cover and besieged the hospital, in light of bombing that targeted parts of it.

The Israeli army said that joint forces from the army and the Shin Bet are continuing a focused military operation at the Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza City.

Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari claimed that Hamas officials were working from within the compound against Israel.

Hagari said at dawn on Monday, "Army forces began a limited operation in the vicinity of the Al-Shifa Medical Complex based on intelligence information indicating the presence of Hamas officials inside it."

Hagari spoke about what he described as “senior leaders in Hamas” working from within the complex to attack Israel, as he put it.

UNRWA has been vital in providing humanitarian services to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, but the agency was stripped of nearly $450 million of funding after top donors including the U.S. suspended payment in January in the wake of Israeli allegations against the agency.

Israel has accused the UN agency of employing over 450 “military operatives” from Hamas and other resistance groups, alleging that a dozen of them took part in the October 7 attack on Israel — a claim Israel has yet to back up with concrete evidence.

Since the initial withdrawal of funding, several countries, including Australia, Sweden and Canada have resumed their donation pledges to UNRWA as they have not seen any evidence backing Israel’s accusations.

UNRWA’s initial investigations have also found that some of its staff in Gaza were severely tortured and abused by Israeli forces and were forced into making false confessions to support Israel’s claims that the agency’s staff have ties to Hamas. 

The EU’s top humanitarian aid official, Janez Lenarcic, has confirmed that Israel did not present any evidence of the claims against UNRWA to him or any official at the EU executive or to any other donor.

The EU said early in March that it is going to pay $55 million in donation to UNRWA but will hold back nearly $35 million until the investigation into Israel’s allegations is resolved. 

“Even if those allegations, at the end of the day, prove to be true, that doesn’t mean that UNRWA is the perpetrator,” Lenarcic said.

“UNRWA has reacted properly, immediately, effectively. It took several measures. There is an investigation. There is a review. We are satisfied so far with all this,” Lenarcic added.

UNRWA has already fired nine of those employees, and is investigating the case of one. The remaining two staff members included in Israel’s allegations, were killed during the October 7 attack.

“UNRWA has of course a critical role to play here because it has unmatched infrastructure, warehouses, shelters, logistical capacities,” he said.

Lenarcic said more aid needs to enter the Gaza Strip by lorries and Israel should open additional land crossing points.

He added that the U.S. maritime corridor set from Cyprus to Gaza is “although a welcome addition, can only complement the land routes.”

“You cannot in current circumstances provide sufficient supplies by maritime routes or airdrops because there is no real port [in the Gaza Strip],” he added.

Israeli media reported that officials in the Israeli negotiating team accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of wasting time, after he refused to hold a session of the mini-ministerial council for security and political affairs yesterday evening, Saturday, in order to send negotiators to the Qatari capital, Doha, to discuss the exchange of prisoners with the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and ceasefire.

Al Jazeera correspondent Najwan Samri said that the controversy escalated in Israel after Netanyahu refused to hold this session, noting that some media reports stated that he was not responding to calls from ministers in the war council.

It added that politician Aryeh Deri (one of Netanyahu's allies) demanded that the negotiating team not leave on Saturday, claiming that this would affect the sanctity of the day among Jews, which sparked severe criticism from the families of Israeli prisoners who accused him of not caring about the lives of their children.

The Al Jazeera correspondent explained that the Israeli negotiating team is expected to leave for Doha after the mini-ministerial council meeting is held this Sunday evening.

Alternative session

Meanwhile, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said that the security establishment under his leadership is “committed to exhausting all capabilities and taking advantage of every opportunity to return the kidnapped people to their families.”

Yesterday, Saturday, Gallant held an alternative session to discuss the possible deal with Hamas, according to what was reported by the Israeli Broadcasting Corporation, after Netanyahu refused to hold a session of the mini-ministerial council.

The Israeli Broadcasting Corporation said that Mossad Foreign Intelligence Director David Barnea participated in the meeting and is expected to travel to Qatar at a later time.

Yesterday, angry demonstrations took place in Haifa, Tel Aviv, and occupied Jerusalem, demanding the conclusion of an exchange deal. Demonstrators also gathered in front of the Israeli Ministry of Defense, demanding the dismissal of Netanyahu and holding early elections.

On the other hand, Israeli President Isaac Herzog said today that "it is clear to us that there is no victory in the war without the return of the abductees."

He added, "It is our duty to remove doubts among the families of the kidnapped, and this must remain above all differences."

As for Israeli Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz, he said that Israel is willing to pay a price in exchange for the return of detainees in Gaza, but it is not ready to stop the war, describing that as a red line.

Regarding the implementation of a ground operation in Rafah, Katz said - in an interview with the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper website - that this will happen because victory in the war cannot be achieved without entering there, as he put it.

Doha talks

Meanwhile, the Associated Press quoted Egyptian officials as saying that talks on a ceasefire in Gaza and the exchange of prisoners may begin in Doha this Sunday afternoon or tomorrow, Monday.

The Hamas movement announced that it had presented to the mediators in Egypt and Qatar a vision based on stopping the aggression, providing relief, the return of the displaced, and the withdrawal of the occupation.

Washington said that Hamas's proposal came within the framework of the deal that has been working on for months, and expressed cautious optimism about the upcoming talks in Doha.

Israel has been waging a devastating war on the Gaza Strip for more than 5 months, leaving tens of thousands of martyrs and wounded, most of them children and women, amid warnings from international organizations of famine - especially in the northern Gaza Strip - as a result of the occupation restricting the entry of aid.

Sources revealed to Al Jazeera the details of the proposal presented by the Hamas movement, which includes 3 stages, each of which lasts 42 days.

According to the sources, in the first phase, Hamas stipulated that the occupation forces withdraw from Al-Rashid and Salah Al-Din Streets to allow the return of the displaced to the northern Gaza Strip and the passage of aid.

The movement also requested, in exchange for the release of every living Israeli female soldier, the release of 50 Palestinian prisoners it identifies, with 30 of them being life sentencers.

The sources added to Al Jazeera that Hamas stipulated - in conjunction with the start of the second phase - the declaration of a permanent ceasefire before any exchange of its captured soldiers.

Hamas's proposal also included coinciding with the start of the third phase, starting the comprehensive reconstruction process for the Gaza Strip and ending the siege.

Source: Al Jazeera + agencies + Israeli press

On Sunday, the far-right Israeli Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, launched a scathing attack on the Israeli occupation army.

The extremist minister said: “The Army General Staff caused one of the biggest disasters in the country,” according to the Hebrew Channel 12.

He stated that he believes "what will bring the kidnapped people back is cutting off contact and resuming intense military effort."

The Israeli army continues its aggression against the Gaza Strip for the 163rd day in a row, leaving 31,553 killed and 73,546 people injured since last October 7.

The American Wall Street Journal said on Sunday that the Israeli army is stuck in what resembles detention in the Gaza Strip. Despite its intention to enter the city of Rafah, south of the Strip, it is unable to do so without providing a safe way to leave more than a million civilians gathered in the city.

The day before yesterday, Friday, the Prime Minister of the Israeli occupation government, Benjamin Netanyahu, approved plans for the attack on Rafah after a meeting of the Israeli War Cabinet, without announcing details about the risky operation, which may cause more damage to the already tense relationship between Israel and the United States. United States unless civilians are protected.

The Wall Street Journal quoted Ofer Shelah, a military analyst at the Tel Aviv-based Institute for National Security Studies, as saying, “The Israeli government is in a dilemma. Netanyahu cannot order the forces to enter Rafah before developing a clear plan to evacuate the population there, especially with warnings.” "The American administration of Israel has caused increasing civilian casualties."

The newspaper said that since the beginning of the war, US President Joe Biden has described the relationship between the United States and Israel as “unbreakable,” but his support for Netanyahu is rapidly eroding. She added: “When Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called in a speech last Thursday for new elections to succeed Netanyahu, Biden commented on the speech by saying: “He gave a good speech, and I think he expressed serious concern, not only from him. But from many Americans.

Schumer had considered that holding elections was "the only way to allow a healthy and open decision-making process regarding the future of Israel." While Netanyahu pledged to respond to any pressure on Israel to ease its goal of eliminating Hamas.

The newspaper added that the war cabinet is scheduled to discuss, today, Sunday, the issue of negotiations and prisoners held by Hamas in Gaza, which have reached advanced stages, while Israeli officials and analysts confirm that “the threat of an imminent operation in Rafah constitutes a major pressure point in the talks with Hamas".

The newspaper pointed out that the intensity of the fighting in Gaza has diminished in recent weeks with Israel’s reluctance to enter Rafah, as it did not deploy forces to enter the city, and reduced its military divisions stationed throughout Gaza from three divisions to one division. Adding that Israel is focusing on destroying Hamas’ infrastructure elsewhere in the Gaza Strip.

Commenting on this, retired Israeli Colonel Miri Eisin told the newspaper, “It is an arduous task that can take a long time and may last an entire year,” adding: “All it takes is an open tunnel that we did not know existed for Hamas fighters to come from the south to the north.” ".

The Wall Street Journal indicated that the ongoing military operations launched by Israel indicate the extent of the difficulty it may face in subduing the Hamas movement, which is now conducting its battle through a vast network of underground tunnels, which took about 15 years to build, and extends to about 300 miles.

iT continued, "The fighting has become increasingly sporadic, with Hamas shifting its stance from defense to simply staying alive and continuing its operations, setting ambushes and disabling Israeli forces wherever it can before disappearing again into the tunnels."

The newspaper concluded that Israel will send a delegation to Qatar, tomorrow, Monday, to discuss the ceasefire talks after Hamas made concessions, making the positions of the two sides closer than ever before. Pointing out that the concessions included reducing the number of Palestinian prisoners who would be exchanged for Israeli detainees, and abandoning demands for a permanent cessation of fighting before reaching an agreement.

The Egyptian-European summit stressed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and for Israel to end its hostilities.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi said that the Palestinian issue and the war on the Gaza Strip were at the top of the Egyptian-European summit talks, which stressed the inevitability of an immediate ceasefire and Israel ending its hostilities.

During the joint press conference with European leaders held at the Ittihadiya Palace on Sunday, President Sisi called for making more efforts to achieve an immediate and unconditional ceasefire, and to increase humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip to alleviate the severity of the humanitarian catastrophe that the Palestinians are experiencing.

The Egyptian President also confirmed that it was agreed with the President of the European Union Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, the Prime Minister of Belgium, the current President of the European Union, and the heads of state and government of Cyprus, Italy, Greece and Austria to reject Israel launching a military operation in Rafah, which will double the humanitarian catastrophe that is occurring. Civilians in the Gaza Strip suffer from it, in addition to the effects of this operation on liquidating the Palestinian cause, which Egypt rejects in its entirety.

Al-Sisi renewed Egypt's complete rejection of any attempts by Israel to forcibly displace the Palestinian people from their land occupied since 1967, including the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem.

He explained, we reviewed in detail the Egyptian efforts aimed at resolving the crisis while stressing the importance of dealing with the Palestinian issue from a comprehensive and integrated perspective that guarantees the rights of the Palestinians to establish their independent state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.

President Sisi stressed the need to unify our message to the international community to highlight that the suffering of the Palestinian people in the entire occupied Palestinian territory over the past decades will not stop except by recognizing the State of Palestine, granting it full membership in the United Nations, and working to implement the two-state solution in accordance with international references, and that procrastination in solving that problem will not stop. The issue exposes the region and the entire world to instability.

The discussions also addressed the importance of continuing to confront common challenges, most notably illegal immigration, where the commitment to combating this phenomenon was emphasized within the framework of existing cooperation, while including the development dimension in addressing it, in addition to strengthening regular migration paths.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi stressed on Sunday the necessity of a ceasefire in Gaza, and stressed that his country “will not allow the forced displacement of Palestinians.”

This came during the Egyptian President’s meeting with Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, on the sidelines of the Egyptian-European Summit expected today, according to a statement by the Egyptian Presidency.

The meeting witnessed "discussions on a number of bilateral cooperation files, most notably the expected signing by both sides today of the Joint Political Declaration document to launch the path of upgrading relations between Egypt and the European Union to the level of a strategic and comprehensive partnership."

The regional situation was also discussed during the meeting, and in this regard, the Egyptian President stressed “the necessity of a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.”

He stressed that "Egypt rejects the forced displacement of Palestinians to its lands and will not allow it."

On Sunday, the Egyptian presidency announced, in a statement, the holding of an Egyptian-European summit today, to raise the level of relations to a “strategic partnership,” and to discuss the issue of the Israeli war in the Gaza Strip that has been raging since October 7 last.

The statement explained that the Egyptian President, Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, will receive at the Ittihadiya Palace, east of Cairo, the President of the European Union Commission, the Prime Minister of Belgium, the current President of the European Union, and the heads of state and government of Cyprus, Italy, Greece, and Austria.

The value of the agreements signed by Egypt with the European Union amounted to $12.8 billion during the period (2020-2023).

The European Union intends to provide an aid package of 7.4 billion euros ($8.08 billion) to Egypt aimed at supporting its economy, which is expected to be announced during the visit of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to Egypt on Sunday, according to what was reported by the official Egyptian News Agency from the Financial Times newspaper. ", Friday.

The number of dead of the captive movement in Israeli prisons since the seventh of last October has risen to 14.

The Palestinian Prisoner's Club said in a statement today, Sunday, that the number of dead of the captive movement inside the Israeli prisons rose to 14 after the seventh of last October, as a result of torture, abuse, and starvation, in addition to medical crimes.

This came after the announcement of the death of the wounded detainee, Muhammad Abu Sneina from Jerusalem, in Hadassah Hospital, one day after he was injured and arrested.

The statement added that the oIsraeli media had revealed the death of detainees from Gaza in the Israeli camps, while it refuses to this day to disclose their identities, in light of its continued implementation of the crime of enforced disappearance against Gaza detainees after October 7.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel will continue its attack on the Gaza Strip despite increasing international pressure.

During a government session on Sunday, Netanyahu reiterated that Israel will continue its attack on the Gaza Strip, including the city of Rafah, while it will evacuate civilians from the combat areas.

Netanyahu added: “To our friends in the international community, I say: Is your memory short? Did you forget October 7 so quickly? Are you prepared so quickly to deprive Israel of the right to defend itself against the monsters of Hamas? Did you lose your moral conscience so quickly?” Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper considered an escalation by Netanyahu in his confrontation with US President Joe Biden.

The Israeli prime minister denounced the international pressure on Israel, saying: “Instead of putting pressure on Israel, which is waging an unjust war against an enemy crueler than it, direct your pressure on Hamas and its sponsor, Iran.” They pose a threat to the region and the entire world.”

He stressed, "In any case, we will stand in the face of all pressures, and we will continue the war until complete victory."

At the beginning of the government session, Netanyahu referred to an attack launched against him by the leader of the Democratic majority in the US Senate, Chuck Schumer, who last week called for elections in Israel and claimed that Netanyahu had “lost his authority.”

Netanyahu added: “There are those in the international community who are trying to stop the war now, before all its goals are achieved.” They do this by making false accusations against the Israeli army, against the Israeli government, and against the prime minister.

He continued: “They are doing this by making an effort to hold elections now, in the middle of the war, and they are doing this because they know that the elections now will stop the war, and will paralyze the country for at least six months.”

The Prime Minister of the Israeli government stressed that if the war is stopped now, before achieving all its goals, this means that Israel has lost the war, continuing: “We will not allow that, and that is why we must not surrender to these pressures, and we will not surrender to them.”

He continued: “No international pressure will prevent us from achieving all the goals of the war: eliminating Hamas, releasing all detainees, and ensuring that Gaza will not pose another threat against Israel.”

He added: “In order to do this, we will also work in Rafah. This is the only way to eliminate the remaining Hamas brigades, and this is the only way to exert the necessary military pressure to release all detainees.”

He explained that operational plans for the incursion into Rafah had been approved, including steps to evacuate civilians from combat areas, noting that the operation in Rafah would take several weeks, stressing: “The operation will take place.”

Former Israeli Chief of Staff Moshe Ya'alon said that returning Israeli detainees in the Gaza Strip is not a priority for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is interested in remaining in power.

Ya'alon added - in statements reported by the Maariv newspaper - that there are officials within the Israeli government demanding the sacrifice of detainees in exchange for occupying the Gaza Strip, expelling the Palestinians, and settling Jews there.

He pointed out that Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir do not want to reach a final status in which Israel does not control Gaza, stressing the responsibility of the occupation army for killing 100 Palestinians while distributing aid in the northern Gaza Strip.

Regarding what was reported about launching a ground operation in Rafah, Ya’alon considered the threat to enter Rafah to be a hoax, wondering if the government really needed to enter, so why did it not enter? Why were units of reserve soldiers demobilized?

Yaalon also expressed his belief that the right path lies in going to elections, to get Israel out of this crisis with a different leadership, calling on Israelis to take to the streets and protest.

Positions regarding the exchange deal

On the other hand, officials in the Israeli negotiating team accused Netanyahu of wasting time, according to what was reported by Israeli media.

Meanwhile, the Israeli Broadcasting Corporation said that Defense Minister Yoav Galant held an alternative session in order to discuss the prisoner exchange deal, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refused to hold a session of the mini-ministerial council for security and political affairs.

The Israeli Broadcasting Corporation revealed that Mossad Director David Barnea participated in the session held by the Minister of Defense regarding the exchange deal.

For his part, Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid ruled out the possibility of concluding an easy deal to release Israeli prisoners held by Hamas.

This came during his talk yesterday, Saturday, with the families of the prisoners, indicating what he described as the opposition’s full support for such a deal.

Lapid said that the deal that would return them was worth the price, and that it was not possible to move forward without their return to Israel.

On the other hand, Israeli Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz said that Israel is willing to pay a price in exchange for the return of detainees in Gaza, but it is not ready to stop the war, describing this as a red line.

Regarding the implementation of a ground operation in Rafah, Katz responded during an interview with the Yedioth Ahronoth website that this will happen because victory in the war cannot be achieved without entering there, as he put it.

Human Rights Watch called on the international community to impose sanctions on Israel for not complying with the International Court of Justice's order to take precautionary measures in the Gaza Strip to prevent "genocide."

The organization said through its account on the “X” platform, “Countries must impose targeted sanctions and an arms embargo on Israel, in order to comply with the order issued by the International Court of Justice.”

The organization noted that Tel Aviv "did not comply with court orders and did not work to deliver aid and basic services to the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip."

At the end of last January, the International Court of Justice asked Israel to take all measures to prevent any acts that could be considered genocide, to ensure that the Israeli army does not carry out any acts of genocide, and to prevent any public statements or comments that could incite the commission of genocide in Gaza.

It called on it to take all measures to ensure the arrival of humanitarian aid, and not to throw away any evidence that could be used in the case against it.

On December 29, South Africa filed a lawsuit before the International Court of Justice, accusing Israel of committing “genocide crimes” in the Gaza Strip, before the court announced its rejection of Israel’s demands to drop the case, and ruled temporarily to obligate Israel “to take measures to stop the genocide and introduce Humanitarian aid."

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said that the administration of US President Joe Biden is cooperating with what he described as the “dangerous campaign” of the international boycott movement that aims to harm Israel and distort its image.

Smotrich stressed that Israel should not tolerate US sanctions on settlers under any circumstances.

In recent months, the Biden administration imposed several sanctions on settlers it accused of involvement in violence in the West Bank, indicating the United States' growing dissatisfaction with the policies of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Smotrich: I will demand that the cabinet stop new army appointments

Smotrich commented on the army's announcement of new appointments, saying that he would ask the Israeli cabinet to stop the appointments.

He added that if Israeli Chief of Staff Herzi Halevy did not understand on his own that he should not be preoccupied with appointments that he described as “non-urgent,” he would make him understand that through the cabinet, as he put it.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said that one in three children under the age of two in northern Gaza now suffers from acute malnutrition, and that famine is looming on the horizon.

UNRWA added in a statement published on social media, “Child malnutrition is spreading rapidly and reaching unprecedented levels in Gaza.”

Hospitals in Gaza reported that some children were dying from malnutrition and dehydration.

The international body responsible for monitoring food insecurity (the Integrated Interim Classification of Food Security) is expected to soon submit a report on the extent of the hunger crisis in Gaza, after it said last December that there is a risk of famine occurring during a forecast period extending until next May. .

World Central Kitchen said the first shipment to Gaza from the charity, which led aid deliveries via a new sea route via Cyprus, arrived on Thursday and was unloaded.

Son of Saul showed how the Holocaust's horrors required inmates to hollow out their humanity. The horrors of Gaza have made a similar moral monster of its director, Laszlo Nemes

Laszlo Nemes, the Hungarian director of the award-winning film Son of Saul, joins the elite mob determined to lynch film-maker Jonathan Glazer for trying to publicly prick Hollywood's conscience at the Oscars ceremony last week and end its deafening silence in the midst of a plausible genocide in Gaza.

Nemes' statement is a fascinating insight into the emotional and ideological contortions of the traumatised Zionist mind, incapable – given its particularist, zero-sum worldview – of acknowledging the endless suffering of the Palestinian people. Instead, it constantly seeks to deflect from its responsibility for that pain by demonising those who stand in solidarity with Palestinians or even those who can no longer, in good faith, stand by as 2.3 million people are being bombed and starved to death.

Nemes’ statement, published sympathetically by establishment media outlets, turns the world on its head in accepting the gravest atrocities in living memory only because they are being committed by Israel – a militarised, settler colonial state that claims to represent Jews around the world and was founded, with western backing, on the ruins of the Palestinian people’s homeland.

A state that has been ethnically cleansing Palestinians for eight decades and is now declared by the international human rights community to be an apartheid state.

A state that the World Court has ruled is committing a plausible genocide, and is known to have killed and maimed many tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza and created famine conditions for some 2 million more.

All of this, according to Nemes, is evidence not that Israel has turned out to be a classic example of the abused turning abuser but of a continuing global plot supposedly against the Jewish people, one that threatens their existence more so even than the Nazi Holocaust.

It is, says Nemes, Zionist Jews like himself who are the true victims of Israel’s killing spree in Gaza – not the Palestinians being turned skeletal by a famine induced by the state Nemes identifies with, or the Palestinian bodies blown apart by bombs dropped by the state Nemes says represents him.

It is, Nemes claims, Israel and the Zionist Jews who excuse its every action who are friendless, isolated, vulnerable, even as the United States – the world’s global hegemon – provides a constant flow of bombs to Israel and untold billions in financial aid, and even as Washington and Europe freeze funding to UNRWA, the only United Nations body capable of keeping the famine in Gaza at bay.

All of that is irrelevant to Nemes’ traumatised, sick mind. He demands Glazer and others of conscience stay silent – stop “moralising” – and let Israel finish the job of erasing Gaza. A job it has been carrying out incrementally for decades with the support of the same western establishments that originally gave away what was not theirs to give away – the homeland of the Palestinian people – to a Zionist movement that had promised to colonise Palestine on the West's behalf.

With zero self-awareness, Nemes tells Glazer to instead worry about the "sorry state of cinema" and "the destruction of creative and artistic freedom by corporate mindset".

Yet in the same breath, he dismisses as antisemitism the call to stop bombing children in the pursuit of corporate profits by the arms industry, and the demand for Washington to stop backing a genocide by its most useful client state in controlling the oil-rich Middle East. Calls for an end to occupation, calls for the imposition of a ceasefire, remind him of "12th-century archbishops, in an ecstatic state of self-righteousness, self-flagellation, denouncing vice, longing for purity". According to Nemes, abhorrence at babies and children being actively starved to death is nothing more than a medieval “longing for purity”.

Glazer, in calling for Israel to stop hijacking the voice of Jews by claiming to speak for them all and shielding itself from criticism by weaponising the Holocaust, is supposedly regurgitating "talking points disseminated by propaganda meant to eradicate, at the end, all Jewish presence from the Earth".

In Nemes's twisted mind, Glazer's call for an end to Israel's belligerent occupation and 17-year siege of Gaza, and the oceans of Palestinian and Israeli blood spilt to sustain it, is simple propaganda that leads to the extermination of all Jews. Is it not Nemes who sounds like some terrifying throwback to the Dark Ages, not Glazer?

Nemes ends with a warning as divorced from reality as the rest of his screed. We are, he says, “reaching pre-Holocaust levels of anti-Jewish hatred”, in what he describes bafflingly as a “trendy, ‘progressive’ way”. So presumably in Nemes’ mind, the threat of antisemitism is not posed by the far-right racists stalking the corridors of power, like Donald Trump or Hungary’s own Viktor Orban, or the white nationalists who see Israel as a model for their own ethnic supremacist nationalism that will demand Jews be exiled from the West to a Jewish ghetto in the Middle East. No, Nemes is worried about those “progressives” who want equality for Palestinians and Jews, who want an end to Israel’s apartheid rule over Palestinians.

Son of Saul showed a Jewish inmate of Auschwitz who gained marginal privileges over other inmates by turning himself into a hollow, morally empty creature ignoring the horrors all around. There could be no clearer metaphor for the moral monster the genocide in Gaza has made of Laszlo Nemes.

According to figures from the health ministry in the Hamas-administered Gaza Strip, more than 12,300 children died in the Palestinian territory between October and the end of February.

" Dizzy. The number of children allegedly killed in just four months in Gaza is higher than the number of children killed in four years in all conflicts around the world,” assured Tuesday, March 12, the head of the agency. the UN for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA.

Philippe Lazzarini refers in a post on Gaza, administered by Hamas, which report more than 12,300 children dead in the Palestinian territory between October and the end of February. “This war is a war against children,” denounced Mr. Lazzarini. It is a war against their childhood and their future. »

After five months of war between Israel and Hamas with no truce in sight, the population, already suffering from bombings, is threatened by famine. To compensate for the lack of aid arriving by land in the territory devastated by months of war, the international community is seeking to diversify the routes for delivering vital aid to the population.

This war began with the unprecedented Hamas attack on October 7, which left around 1,160 people dead in Israel, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures. The attackers also took around 250 people hostage, dozens of whom were freed during a week-long truce in November. Israel estimates there are around 130 captives remaining in Gaza, 32 of whom are presumed dead. Israel's retaliatory bombings and ground offensive have killed 31,184 Palestinians in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the territory's health ministry.

The Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip reported on Sunday that the Israeli army committed 9 massacres against families, including 92 killed and 130 injuries to hospitals during the past 24 hours.

It indicated that there are still a number of victims under the rubble and on the roads that ambulance and civil defense crews cannot reach them, while the toll of the Israeli aggression has risen to 31,645 killed and 73,676 injuries since last October 7.

Here are the latest developments: Red Crescent crews transported 9 killed and 21 wounded after the Israeli forces bombed a house in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.

On the 163rd day of the war on Gaza, and the seventh day of the holy month of Ramadan, the Israeli army continued to target defenseless civilians in several areas of the Gaza Strip. The Gaza Ministry of Health said earlier that the occupation committed 7 massacres within 24 hours, in which more than 60 were killed and about 100 were injured.

The first trucks of humanitarian aid loaded with flour arrived in the northern Gaza Strip to the Kuwait Roundabout area in the center of Gaza City, in addition to Salah al-Din Street in the northern Gaza Strip.

Eyewitnesses added that the aid delivery process was safe, in light of prior coordination between a number of tribal elders, mukhtars, and UN officials, as the trucks were unloaded at one of the centers of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) east of Jabalia, to be divided into small quantities in preparation for distribution to larger areas. A number of needy people.

This step comes at a time when the northern Gaza Strip is suffering from a severe famine that has so far resulted in dozens of deaths, most of them children.

To secure the entry of the first aid into the northern Gaza Strip, the Palestinian security forces in Gaza issued a circular to citizens to secure and ensure the safe arrival of aid and to preserve the safety of the population. The instructions included preventing people from going to the Kuwait Roundabout in the center of Gaza City to receive aid, as the place was targeted by the occupation forces several times, as the circular demanded. Not to gather on Salah al-Din Street while aid is arriving. The circular warned against violating the instructions under penalty of accountability, and called on citizens in Gaza to be responsible and not participate in spreading chaos and starving the Palestinian people.

The Hebrew newspaper "Maariv" reported that political sources in Israel published an update on Saturday night to Sunday about the draft US resolution proposed in the Security Council on Gaza.

In its new text, the draft resolution stipulates an “immediate and permanent ceasefire,” and includes a rejection of the expected Israeli military operation in Rafah, as the new draft contains a more stringent text on the issues of ceasefire and Rafah, unlike the previous version, which addressed the dangers of military action in Rafah on the Civilian population only under current circumstances.

The proposed draft resolution has undergone a number of changes and amendments, and is currently in its final form, which can no longer be changed, according to the Israeli political sources that received the update.

The draft resolution is expected to be put to a vote in the UN Security Council in its current version.

According to Maariv, Israeli sources described the new amendments to the final draft resolution prepared by the Americans to be immediately presented for a vote in the Security Council, as a “dangerous deterioration in wording and tone,” for Israel.

The sources confirm that the wording of the American draft resolution does not allow ground military maneuvers by the Israeli army, and express deep concern about the possibility of an Israeli ground operation in Rafah, and confirm that the Israeli army’s maneuver in the Rafah area entails a real danger, the risk of violating international humanitarian law.

The final draft of the American draft resolution indicates that a diplomatic effort will be made to begin implementing an immediate ceasefire agreement, and the Americans will express their support for diplomatic efforts aimed at reaching an immediate and permanent ceasefire as part of the prisoner release deal, according to Maariv.

Maariv says that, according to Israeli estimates, the United States will seek to hold a vote on the resolution as early as this week, with the aim of speeding up the vote in the Security Council as much as possible for fear of proposing another competing resolution that would be of a clearly negative nature for Israel.

Earlier on Saturday, a senior Israeli official said that Washington had begun delaying some military aid and that Israel might lose the war with Hamas in Gaza.

Strategic Communications Coordinator at the US National Security Council, John Kirby, said that any military operation in the city of Rafah without taking into account the safety of civilians would be disastrous.

The head of the Israeli Mossad, David Barnea, is scheduled to travel to Qatar on Monday to resume ceasefire talks in Gaza, according to the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper.

The Israeli Defense Cabinet approved the decision to attack the city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip after civilians were evacuated for the first time, according to Bloomberg.

The American agency indicated that the Israeli authorities are ready to intensify their military campaign against the Palestinian Hamas movement as the ceasefire talks continue.

It confirmed that Israel will also send a delegation to Qatar to resume negotiations on an agreement to return the hostages, despite the fact that Hamas’ ceasefire proposal includes “unreasonable” demands, according to the Israelis.

It is likely that Israel's reference to the long-awaited attack on Rafah, without closing the door to the diplomatic path out of the crisis, came to exert maximum pressure on Hamas to persuade the Iran-backed movement to agree to the hostage deal.

Bloomberg explained that Israel is awaiting a very complex task of transferring civilians, estimated at more than 1.2 million Palestinians, from Rafah to safe areas, which may take several days, if not longer.

It noted that there is no clear indication from Israeli officials where they (Gaza civilians) will go, despite Netanyahu’s pledge that a military attack on the city will not occur until civilians are allowed to leave.

Plans for a ground invasion of the city of Rafah, which hosts three-quarters of the Gaza Strip's population, are likely to increase tensions between Israel and the United States, which has not yet seen Israel's plan to transfer civilians from Rafah, according to Secretary of State Anthony Blinken.

The agency indicated that the United States and other allies urged Israel to abandon the operation to allow a ceasefire and provide humanitarian aid, but Israeli officials believe that the Hamas leadership and the hostages who were taken during the movement’s attack on October 7 are present there.

The American agency pointed out that Washington remains cautiously optimistic about the possibility of reaching a deal and a temporary ceasefire, as Minister Blinken recently said in a press conference in Vienna, “Hamas’s recent proposal and Israel’s decision to send a delegation to the talks reflect the sense of possibility and urgency of reaching an agreement.”

A number of citizens, most of them children and women, were killed at dawn on Sunday, after Israeli aircraft bombed a house in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.

Medical sources announced that at least 12 citizens, most of them children and women, were killed, and a number of others were injured, as a result of the Israeli aircraft bombing a house for the Thabet family in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.

The death toll in the Gaza Strip has risen to 31,553 citizens, the majority of whom are children and women, since the start of the Israeli aggression on the seventh of last October, and the number of wounded has reached 73,546 since the beginning of the aggression, while thousands of victims are still under the rubble.

Medical sources announced that the Israeli forces committed 7 massacres against families in the Gaza Strip, resulting in the death of 63 citizens and the injury of 112 others, during the past 24 hours, noting that a number of victims are still under the rubble and on the roads, and ambulance and civil defense crews cannot reach them.

The Israeli delegation to negotiate a prisoner exchange with Hamas and a ceasefire in Gaza will leave for Qatar on Monday, according to what the official Israeli Broadcasting Corporation reported on Saturday.

The authority said, “The war cabinet will not meet tonight (Saturday), and therefore the Israeli negotiating delegation is not expected to leave for Qatar before Monday.”

The authority quoted an unnamed political source in the government as saying: “There is no plan to hold a war council meeting tonight. It will be held on Sunday evening.”

The authority noted, “Based on the date of the war council meeting, the delegation, headed by Mossad chief David Barnea, will not leave for Doha before Monday.”

The Israeli delegation intends to go to Qatar to discuss concluding a possible prisoner exchange deal with Hamas.

During the past two days, Hebrew media circulated news stating that the War Council decided to send an Israeli delegation to Doha early next week to discuss the exchange deal.

On Friday, an informed Palestinian source revealed that the Hamas movement presented a proposal to the Qatari and Egyptian mediators for calm in Gaza, which includes three stages, each stage lasting 6 weeks, including an exchange of prisoners, the return of displaced persons to northern Gaza, and the declaration of a permanent ceasefire in the second stage.

Qatar and Egypt, with the help of the United States, are mediating between Israel and Hamas, in order to reach a new ceasefire agreement in Gaza and the exchange of prisoners.

Israel estimates that there are more than 125 prisoners in Gaza, while it holds at least 8,800 Palestinians in its prisons, according to official sources from both sides.

A truce previously prevailed between Hamas and Israel for a week from November 24 until December 1, 2023, during which a ceasefire took place, a prisoner exchange took place, and very limited humanitarian aid was brought into Gaza, with Qatari-Egyptian-American mediation.

Today, Saturday, the Director-General of the World Health Organization called on Israel to refrain from launching an attack on Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip “in the name of humanity.”

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote on the X website: “I am deeply concerned about reports of an Israeli plan to launch a ground attack on Rafah. A new escalation of violence in this crowded area will lead to more deaths and suffering.”

He added, "In the name of humanity, we call on Israel not to move forward with its plan and seek peace," considering that the evacuation process that the Israeli army intends to carry out before the attack is not a possible solution.

He explained, "The 1.2 million residents of Rafah have no safe place to go, nor fully functioning and safe health facilities that they can access anywhere else in Gaza."

He continued, "Many people are physically weak, hungry and sick to the point that they cannot be displaced again."

Senior Israeli officials are expected to arrive in Qatar to resume ceasefire talks in Gaza, and while the Israeli war council will be held to discuss the deal to return the prisoners, the White House expressed a cautious tone of optimism after the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) presented a proposal to secure a ceasefire.

A source told Reuters on Saturday that the head of the Israeli intelligence service (Mossad), David Barnea, is expected to resume ceasefire talks in Gaza with the Prime Minister of Qatar, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani, and Egyptian officials in Doha tomorrow, Sunday.

The source added that the talks will focus on the remaining gaps between Hamas and Israel in the negotiations, including the number of Palestinians who may be released in exchange for the release of the rest of the Israeli prisoners, in addition to humanitarian aid to Gaza.

On the other hand, Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper said that the Israeli war council will be held tonight or tomorrow to discuss the deal to return the detainees.

The newspaper reported that the war council will determine the "space for maneuver" that will be granted to the Mossad chief during the talks that will be held in Qatar.

The newspaper indicated that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's threats to work in Rafah may come within the framework of negotiations and pressure on Hamas to reach a deal.

American optimism

On the other hand, White House National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby confirmed that the Hamas movement’s proposal regarding a ceasefire agreement in Gaza is considered within the limits of the deal that has been working on for months, and he said that a delegation will head to Doha for a new round of negotiations.

White House National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby also expressed cautious optimism that the Doha ceasefire talks in Gaza are moving in the right direction.

The Hamas movement announced that it had presented to the mediators in Egypt and Qatar a vision based on stopping the aggression, providing relief, the return of the displaced, and the withdrawal of the occupation.

The movement added - in a statement - that it considers these principles and foundations necessary for the agreement and exchange of prisoners. She stressed that she would remain biased towards the rights of the Palestinian people.

In an interview with Al Jazeera, Hamas leader Osama Hamdan said that the proposal presented by the movement to the mediators regarding a ceasefire in Gaza and the exchange of prisoners is realistic and characterized by high flexibility.

Hamdan added that the Israeli occupation is trying to circumvent the ceasefire issue, noting that the movement proposed guarantor countries for the agreement in addition to mediators from Qatar, Egypt and the United States.

Sources revealed to Al Jazeera details of the proposal presented by Hamas to the mediators regarding a ceasefire in Gaza and the exchange of prisoners.

Hamas proposal

The ceasefire proposal includes 3 phases, each lasting 42 days.

According to the sources, in the first stage, Hamas stipulated the withdrawal of the occupation forces from Al-Rashid and Salah Al-Din Streets for the return of the displaced and the passage of aid.

Hamas also offered, in exchange for the release of every living captive female soldier, to release 50 Palestinian prisoners that it would specify, with 30 of them being life sentencers.

The sources added to Al Jazeera that Hamas stipulated - in conjunction with the start of the second phase - the declaration of a permanent ceasefire before any exchange of its captured soldiers.

Hamas's proposal also included coinciding with the start of the third phase, starting the comprehensive reconstruction process for the Gaza Strip and ending the siege.

On the other hand, the Israeli Prime Minister's Office said that Hamas's demands are still illogical, and that an Israeli team will head to Doha to continue negotiations, after the end of the discussions in this regard in the Mini-Ministerial Council for Political and Security Affairs.

Last week, talks in Cairo mediated by Egypt and Qatar did not lead to any tangible result towards reaching a prisoner exchange agreement within the framework of a temporary truce in the Gaza Strip.

Netanyahu is facing criticism from the Israeli street and a number of politicians, even those affiliated with the War Council, against the backdrop of the prisoner crisis in Gaza and the failure to find a path to guarantee their return alive, and some of them accuse him of disrupting the deal to release them.

Families of detainees in the Gaza Strip demonstrate almost daily to demand the conclusion of a deal leading to the release of their children.

Israel detains at least 9,100 Palestinians in its prisons, according to official Palestinian sources, while mystery surrounds the number of Israeli prisoners detained in the Gaza Strip in light of Hamas’ refusal to reveal an accurate number without a heavy price, and the distribution of prisoners among more than one party in the Strip.

While Israeli media talks about numbers of prisoners detained in the Gaza Strip ranging between 240 and 253, including 3 who were released, and 105 who were released by Hamas during a prisoner exchange deal in November 2023, the movement talks about the killing of 70 others as a result of the Israeli bombing.

Since October 7, 2023, Israel has been waging a devastating war on the Gaza Strip, leaving tens of thousands of civilian victims, most of them children and women, in addition to an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe and massive destruction of infrastructure, which led to Tel Aviv appearing before the International Court of Justice on charges of genocide. Collective.

The Israeli police launched an arrest campaign targeting Palestinian workers in Jaffa, as a continuation of the pursuit of Palestinian workers inside the occupied Palestinian territories, “the 48 territories.”

The Secretary-General of the General Federation of Palestinian Trade Unions, Shaher Saad, reported that the Israeli police arrested 65 Palestinian workers in the center of the city of Jaffa, after carrying out a campaign of raids.

He confirmed that 36 of them were transferred for investigation.

Saad called on the International Labor Organization to put pressure on governments to provide the necessary protection for Palestinian workers in their workplaces within the 1948 territories.

Nod for long-threatened invasion of Rafah, home to 1.4 million displaced people, comes as Israel to send team to Qatar.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has approved plans for an attack on Rafah, where 1.4 million displaced Palestinians have sought shelter, while planning to send a team to further truce talks in Qatar after mocking a ceasefire proposal by Hamas as “ridiculous”.

Israel’s allies and critics warned Netanyahu against the invasion of Rafah fearing mass civilian casualties, but the Israeli government claims that the area in southern Gaza is one of the last strongholds of Hamas which it has pledged to eliminate.

 “Hopefully, the ground invasion of Rafah is just a bluff so they can use this as leverage to get something in negotiations. But everything Netanyahu said he will do, he did it, so I assume it is very likely this is going to happen,” Luciano Zaccara of the Gulf Studies Center at Qatar University told Al Jazeera of Israel’s mixed messages.

Hamas had presented a new ceasefire plan to end Israel’s war on Gaza that includes the release of Israeli captives in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, with sources telling Al Jazeera that it would be a three-phased truce, with each stage lasting 42 days.

A statement from Netanyahu’s office late on Friday said the Israeli military was “preparing operationally and for the evacuation of the population” of Rafah.

However, it gave no timeframe and there was no immediate evidence of extra preparations on the ground.

Widespread criticism

Reporting from occupied East Jerusalem, Al Jazeera’s Hamdah Salhut said Israel’s talk of an impending ground invasion in Rafah comes despite growing opposition, especially from its biggest political and military ally, the United States.

 “American officials say they simply wouldn’t support an operation such as this,” Salhut said, adding that Netanyahu has planned “both for the military invasion and evacuation of about 1.5 million Palestinians in Rafah”.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters in Austria on Friday that the US needed to see a clear and implementable plan from Israel for Rafah, including to get civilians out of harm’s way.

Dutch foreign minister Hanke Slot said: “The Netherlands firmly repeats its call to Israel to refrain from such an offensive, which would result in an even bigger humanitarian catastrophe,” adding in a post on X that “an immediate humanitarian ceasefire is of the highest importance, resulting in a sustained cessation of hostilities”.

The United Nations had already warned Israel last month that a ground invasion of Rafah “could lead to a slaughter in Gaza”.

“They could also leave an already fragile humanitarian operation at death’s door,” UN aid chief Martin Griffiths said.

Humanitarian situation ‘beyond catastrophic’

Jagan Chapagain, the head of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, said civilians in Gaza are “facing an unprecedented level of indignity, misery and suffering”.

“The healthcare situation is on the brink of collapse with hospitals facing desperate conditions,” he said in a statement on X, adding that the humanitarian situation in the enclave is “beyond catastrophic”.

Meanwhile, the first aid vessel to reach Gaza, operated by the Spanish charity Open Arms, has offloaded 200 tonnes of food aid to the enclave, completing a pilot project that could open the way for more assistance to come in via maritime corridors.

US charity World Central Kitchen said a second shipment was being prepared in Cyprus and that thousands of tonnes of aid could reach Gaza each week going forward.

Humanitarian organisations have repeatedly called for Israel to open more land border crossings to let in humanitarian supplies, insisting that airdrops and maritime corridors are costly and inefficient ways of delivering assistance.

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES

A veteran Israeli writer and journalist spoke about the Israeli Prime Minister's "strategic" plan for the future of the Gaza Strip after the end of the war, stressing that it does not include any geographical connection or continuity within the framework of the future Palestinian state.

Ron Ben Yishai said in an article in the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper that Netanyahu is taking “successful and small” steps to achieve a long-term solution to the situation in Gaza after the war, according to the vision of the Israeli right, which includes establishing a separate entity in Gaza, controlled by “Israel” from one side. the wish.

However, Netanyahu is not ready to present his plan to the public in Israel, to the American administration, or even to the mini-ministerial “cabinet”, for fear that this will lead to the dismantling of his coalition, so the confrontation with Washington will intensify and Israel will lose the support of the Arab countries with which it maintains relations from above and under the table, according to Ben Yishai.

Plan details

According to all indications, Ben Yishai says, Netanyahu is interested in the Gaza Strip becoming a separate entity, a city similar to Singapore, except that it is devoid of weapons, and connected to the wider world through two corridors, land and sea, and these two corridors allow Gazans to move with relative freedom to and from the Strip, And to establish trade and economic relations with foreign countries and to fish in the waters of their shores, all of this without passing through Israel. However, the latter monitors movement in the two corridors in order to prevent the smuggling of weapons and raw materials that allow the production of weapons.

Ben Yishai adds about Netanyahu’s vision: “Civil administration in the Gaza Strip, including law enforcement, public services, tax collection, and the like, is carried out by local residents under the supervision of a council or organization established with international approval, and this body derives its powers from a Security Council resolution or a known regional organization, with Israeli approval.”

It seems that Netanyahu is interested in being a member of this body with the United States, the Emirates, Egypt, the United Nations, and perhaps also Bahrain... given that these countries and parties have an interest in the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, and have “deep pockets” sufficient to finance the reconstruction, and the will to maintain the demilitarization of the sector, so that investments are not wasted, according to the writer.

Netanyahu hopes that Saudi Arabia will also be a partner in this body, but this will not happen unless the regional vision of the Biden administration is achieved, which is conditional on Israeli approval of the two-state solution.

Ben Yishai believes that the UAE is supposed to have a role in the future plan, to become an influential regional party that will succeed Qatar as an influential player in the Palestinian arena, in order to prove that the “Abraham” Accords serve the Arab and Islamic interest in general.

But the writer believed that it is too early to see a topic in Netanyahu’s plan that will see the light, not only because the end of the war is still unclear, but also because the plan raises internal opposition, and this is what makes Netanyahu “keep his cards close to his chest and try, by manipulative means, to move the relevant parties.” The link in the Gaza confrontation is to take steps that are consistent with his plan.”

Ben Yishai assumes that the establishment of a floating dock on the Gaza coast these days is part of an original initiative by the Prime Minister that serves well his “Singapore strategy.”

Netanyahu is now showing clear indications that he will not oppose the American dock, which within a few weeks will begin bringing in humanitarian aid in huge quantities, and could be replaced in the future by a permanent building built in the northern Gaza Strip, with Emirati funding and perhaps also Bahraini and Saudi funding, according to expectations.

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