Israel is considering a proposal put forward by Egypt and Qatar for a humanitarian pause in exchange for the release of hostages, sources tell ABC News.
The U.S. is in close coordination with all parties negotiating this potential deal, the sources said, and no final agreement has been reached yet.
No further details were available.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said it received 106 trucks carrying relief supplies, including food, water and medical supplies, from the Egyptian Red Crescent on Wednesday.
The trucks arrived through the Rafah border crossing, PRCS said in a statement.
The group also said it had received five ambulances from Kuwait.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Middle East and the World Health Organization announced on Wednesday that medical supplies and medicines were delivered to Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza.
This is the second delivery to the hospital since the attacks on Gaza began, the two organizations said in a joint statement.
“Although the quantities we are delivering are welcome, they are far from sufficient to meet the immense needs in the Gaza Strip. Medical conditions at Al-Shifa – the largest hospital in the Gaza Strip and one of the oldest Palestinian health facilities – are catastrophic,” UNRWA and WHO said.
The organizations said there are currently “nearly two patients for every available bed.”
“The emergency department and wards are overcrowded, requiring doctors and medical staff to treat wounded and sick patients in the hallways, corridors and outdoors,” NRWA and WHO said.
The issue of hostages remains a priority for Hamas in its conflict with Israel, the spokesman for the group’s armed wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, said on Wednesday.
“The only clear path to this issue is a full or partial prisoner exchange agreement,” Abu Obeida said in a video statement on Telegram.
He said Hamas has its own civilians and fighters in Israeli prisons, and Israel has the same types of groups in the Hamas group’s care.
“There is absolutely no solution to this problem other than this route and a category-by-category replacement or a comprehensive process,” he said.
Obeida accused Israel of “obstructing and defeating all efforts to hand over foreign hostages” by refusing to create the right conditions and putting the lives of prisoners at risk.
The group’s fighters have completely or partially destroyed 136 Israeli military vehicles as they clashed with Israeli forces in the northwest and south of Gaza City and the northern part of the Gaza Strip since the ground invasion began, he said.
-Ayat Al-Tawy from ABC News