A fresh round of cease-fire talks among the United States, Israel and Middle East mediators began on Thursday afternoon, as Gaza’s health authority said the number of people killed in the besieged enclave exceeded 40,000.
Delegations from the U.S., Israel, Egypt and Qatar met in Doha on Thursday to broker an end to the grinding war in Gaza. A spokesperson for Hamas told American public broadcaster NPR that it would not take part in the talks, as it had already presented its own peace proposal.
The latest round of negotiations aims to build on a three-phase peace plan from the U.S., announced in a televised address by President Joe Biden on May 31 and endorsed by the United Nations Security Council, which calls for withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza and the release of Israeli and Palestinian hostages and prisoners.
In a joint statement last Friday, American, Egyptian and Qatari leaders said there was “no further time to waste nor excuses from any party for further delay” on a peace deal, adding they were “prepared to present a final bridging proposal” on Thursday.
The push comes amid fears the region could erupt into broader violence, with Israeli forces and Hezbollah in Lebanon exchanging cross-border fire. The recent assassination of the Hamas political leader in Iran has also fanned the flames.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani by phone on Wednesday to reaffirm the joint statement. Both officials agreed that “no party in the region should take actions that would undermine efforts to reach a deal,” according to a readout of their conversation.
Meanwhile, Palestinian health authorities announced Thursday that 40,005 people had been killed in Gaza since Israel launched its military offensive, according to the Associated Press. The count does not distinguish civilian from military deaths.
Israel assaulted the enclave in response to the Oct. 7 raid by the militant branch of Hamas that killed 1,200 Israelis and took 250 hostage.
The Israeli military has targeted mosques, schools and hospitals, saying that Hamas militants shield themselves in tunnel networks underneath such civilian infrastructure.
A further 85 percent of Gaza’s residents have been displaced and close to 100,000 wounded in Israeli strikes, Palestinian health authorities added.
As a result of the war, nearly half a million people in the Gaza Strip face “catastrophic levels of acute food insecurity,” according to the IPC, an international food security initiative.
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