Gaza truce talks end inconclusively as Rafah braces for Israeli assault

Key PointsRepresentatives for Israel and Hamas have not made a breakthrough in ceasefire talks being held in Cairo, Egypt.The talks come after two Israeli hostages were rescued from Rafah, in a raid that killed more than 70 Palestinians.There are fears an Israeli assault on Rafah – where more than one million people are sheltering – could be imminent.

Talks involving the United States, Egypt, Israel and Qatar on a Gaza truce have ended without a breakthrough as calls grew for Israel to hold back on a planned assault on the southern end of the enclave, crammed with over a million displaced people.

The city of Rafah, whose pre-war population was about 300,000, teems with homeless people living in tent camps and makeshift shelters who fled there from Israeli bombardments in areas of Gaza further north during more than four months of war.

Israel says it wants to flush out Hamas militants from hideouts in Rafah and free Israeli hostages being held there, and is making plans to evacuate trapped Palestinian civilians. But no plan has been forthcoming and aid agencies say the displaced have nowhere else to go in the shattered territory.

Israeli tanks shelled the eastern sector of Rafah overnight, causing waves of panic, residents said.

They said displaced people — dozens so far — had begun to leave Rafah after Israeli shelling and air strikes in recent days.

“I fled Al-Maghazi, came to Rafah, and here I am, returning to Al-Maghazi,” said Nahla Jarwan, referring to the coastal refugee camp from which she fled earlier in the conflict.

“Last night in Rafah was very tough. We’re going back to Al-Maghazi out of fear — displaced from one area to another. Hopefully Al-Maghazi area will be safe, God willing.” But she added: “Wherever we go, there is no safety.”

Rafah neighbours Egypt, but Cairo has made clear it will not allow a refugee exodus over the border.

Gaza health officials announced 133 new Palestinian deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 28,473 killed and 68,146 wounded since 7 October when 1,200 people were killed in a Hamas rampage across the border into Israel, triggering the war.

Many other people are believed to be buried under rubble of destroyed buildings across the densely populated Gaza Strip, much of which is in ruins.

Supplies of food, water and other essentials are running out and diseases are spreading.

About half of Gaza’s 2.3 million people are now squeezed into Rafah.

The 7 October attack was a significant escalation in the long-standing conflict between Israel and Hamas.

Hamas is a Palestinian political and military group, which has governed the Gaza Strip since the most recent elections in 2006.

Hamas stated aim is to establish a Palestinian state and stop the Israeli occupation of Gaza and the West Bank, illegal under international law.

Hamas in its entirety is listed as a terrorist organisation by the European Union and seven other countries, including Australia.

In 2021 the International Criminal Court opened an investigation into alleged Israeli war crimes in the Palestinian territories dating back to 2014, including the recent attacks of both Israel and Hamas.

In Cairo, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi conducted talks with CIA director William Burns and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani aimed at agreeing a Gaza truce, protecting civilians and delivering more aid into the enclave, Egypt’s state information service said.

In a statement on its website, it cited a “keenness to continue consultation and coordination” on the key issues, indicating that no breakthrough was made.

The Egyptian statement made no mention of Israel. The Israeli delegation had left Cairo for home, a reporter from the Reuters news agency said. The Israeli prime minister’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A Palestinian rides a bike past destroyed houses during an Israeli military operation in Al Bureije refugee camp, southern Gaza Strip, 13 February 2024. Source: AAP / Mohammed Saber/EPA

Israel has vowed to fight on, for many months if necessary, until it eradicates Hamas.

A Palestinian official said earlier the sides were seeking a formula acceptable to Hamas, which “says it is only possible to sign a deal once it is based on an Israeli commitment to ending its war and pulling out its forces from Gaza”.

A Hamas official said Hamas had told the participants it does not trust Israel not to renew the war if the Israeli hostages being held by Palestinian militants are released.

The hostages were seized in Hamas’ raid into southern Israel on 7 October, with some 240 people taken according to Israeli tallies.

Securing their return is a priority for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government as well as wiping out Hamas, which governs the small coastal territory.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, who will visit Israel on Wednesday, said with respect to Rafah that Israel had the right to defend itself against terrorism, but this did not mean expelling the population.

South Africa asked the International Court of Justice on Tuesday to consider whether Israel’s plan to extend its offensive into Rafah required additional emergency measures to safeguard the rights of Palestinians.

In a case brought by South Africa, the ICJ last month

to take all measures within its power to prevent its troops committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. Israel denies it is committing genocide and had asked the court to reject the case outright.

Pretoria’s government voiced concern that an offensive would result in further large-scale killing, harm and destruction.

Juliette Touma, a spokesperson for the UN’s Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA, said it had not been informed of any Israeli evacuation plan for Rafah and was not part of it.

“Where are you going to evacuate people to, as no place is safe across the Gaza Strip, the north is shattered, riddled with unexploded weapons, it’s pretty much unlivable,” she said.

US President Joe Biden said on Monday that Washington was working on a hostage deal to bring “immediate and sustained” calm to Gaza for at least six weeks.

Biden has urged Israel to refrain from a Rafah offensive without a viable plan to protect civilians.

In the latest bloodshed, Israel’s military said its forces had killed dozens of Palestinian fighters in clashes in southern and central Gaza over the last 24 hours.

Gaza health officials said an Israeli strike on a house in Nusseirat refugee camp in central Gaza killed 16 Palestinians overnight. They said another air strike on a car in Gaza City later on Tuesday killed six people including children.

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