TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — An Israeli military offensive in the southernmost town of Rafah could be “somewhat delayed” if an agreement is reached on a week-long ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday, but claimed the total Victory in Gaza is “still weeks away” once the offensive begins.
Netanyahu confirmed to CBS that a deal was in the works, without giving details. Israeli media reported that mediators made progress on an agreement on a ceasefire and the release of dozens of hostages held in Gaza and Palestinians detained by Israel. Several Israeli media outlets, citing unnamed officials, said the War Cabinet had tacitly approved it.
Expert-level talks resumed in Qatar on Sunday, Egyptian state broadcaster Al Qahera TV reported, quoting an Egyptian official as saying further talks would follow in Cairo to reach a ceasefire and release.
Meanwhile, Israel is developing plans to expand its offensive against the Hamas militant group to Rafah on the Gaza-Egypt border, where more than half of the besieged territory's 2.3 million residents have sought refuge. Humanitarian groups have warned of catastrophe as Rafah is the main point for aid, and the United States and other allies have said Israel must avoid harming civilians.
Netanyahu has said he will convene the Cabinet this week to approve operational plans for operations in Rafah, including the evacuation of civilians.
“Once we begin the Rafah operation, it will take weeks to complete the intense phase of fighting. Not months,” Netanyahu told CBS. “If we don't have a deal, we'll do it anyway. It has to be done because overall victory is our goal and overall victory is within reach.”
He said four of the six remaining Hamas battalions were concentrated in Rafah.
U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan told NBC that President Joe Biden had not been briefed on the Rafah plan, saying: “We believe this operation should not be carried out until we see a plan to protect civilians.” .”
Heavy fighting continued in parts of the northern Gaza Strip, the first target of the offensive, where the destruction has been staggering. Residents have reported days of heavy fighting in the Zaytoun district of Gaza City.
“We are trapped and cannot move because of the heavy bombardment,” said resident Ayman Abu Awad.
He said starving residents were forced to eat animal feed and search for food in destroyed buildings. Northern Gaza is largely cut off from aid and the United Nations World Food Program suspended deliveries last week.
DETAILS OF THE PROPOSED OFFER
A senior official from Egypt, which along with Qatar acts as a mediator between Israel and Hamas, said the draft ceasefire agreement includes the release of up to 40 women and elderly hostages in return for up to 300 Palestinian prisoners, mostly women and minors older people.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the negotiations, said the proposed six-week pause in fighting would include allowing hundreds of trucks each day to bring urgently needed aid to Gaza, including the north. He said both sides agreed to continue negotiations during the break on further releases and a permanent ceasefire.
Negotiators face an unofficial deadline of starting the Muslim holy month of Ramadan around March 10, a time when there are often heightened Israeli-Palestinian tensions.
Hamas says it was not involved in the recent proposal from the United States, Egypt and Qatar, but the reported draft is broadly consistent with its earlier proposal for the first phase of a ceasefire.
Hamas has said it will not release all remaining hostages until Israel ends its offensive and withdraws its forces from the area, and is demanding the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, including senior militants – conditions that Netanyahu has rejected.
Anxious waiting for the families of the hostages
Israel declared war after the Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7, in which militants killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took about 250 hostages. More than 100 hostages were released in November as part of a ceasefire agreement. More than 130 remain captive, and a quarter of them are presumed dead.
The families followed the negotiations with hope and concern.
“It feels like Schindler’s List. Will he be on the list or not?” Shelly Shem Tov, the mother of 21-year-old Omer, told Israeli Army Radio about his chances of being released.
Israel responded to the October 7 attack with an air and ground offensive that has forced around 80% of Gaza's population from their homes and puts hundreds of thousands at risk of hunger and the spread of disease. According to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, 29,692 Palestinians have been killed in the war, two-thirds of them women and children.
When it comes to the death toll, the ministry does not differentiate between civilians and combatants. Israel says its troops have killed more than 10,000 militants without providing evidence.
Newborns die in Rafah
The war has devastated the health sector in Gaza. Less than half of hospitals are even partially functional.
At the Emirates Hospital in Rafah, three to four newborns are housed in each of 20 incubators designed for just one.
Dr. Amal Ismail said two to three newborns die in a single shift, in part because many families live in tents in rainy, cold weather. Before the war, one or two newborns died in incubators there every month.
“No matter how much we work with them, it’s all wasted,” she said. “The health conditions in the tents are very bad.”
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Wafaa Shurafa reported from Rafah in the Gaza Strip and Samy Magdy from Cairo.
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