Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved a return to cease-fire talks with Hamas on Friday, one day after the International Court of Justice in The Hague ordered Israel to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the Palestinians facing famine in the Gaza Strip.
Netanyahu’s announcement marks yet another attempt to reach a deal with the militant group, which would pause Israel’s military offensive in Gaza in exchange for the release of Israeli hostages.
With the war nearing the six-month mark, the United States, Qatar and Egypt have been trying to mediate another cease-fire and hostage release since the first one in November.
Netanyahu, who has been under domestic pressure over his failure to bring home all the hostages seized by militants on October 7, said he has spoken with Israel’s lead negotiators and authorized Israeli delegations to join the cease-fire talks in Qatar and Egypt over the coming days.
Hamas has previously proposed a gradual cease-fire process during which it would release all the remaining hostages in exchange for an end to the war and full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, the opening of its borders for aid and reconstruction, and the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, including top militants serving life sentences.
Netanyahu has called Hamas’ terms delusional and vowed to resume Israel’s offensive after any hostage release and keep fighting until the militant group is destroyed.
Hamas is believed to be holding roughly 100 hostages, as well as the remains of about 30 people among the approximately 1,160 people killed in Israel during Hamas’ October 7 terror attack that triggered the war, according to a tally by Agence France-Presse.
So far, Israel's retaliatory campaign to destroy Hamas has killed at least 32,623 people, mostly women and children, and has injured upwards of 70,000, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza.
Large parts of the enclave have been reduced to rubble, and most of Gaza's population is sheltering in Gaza’s southern border city of Rafah.
Food insecurity and famine
The International Court of Justice ordered Israel to "take all necessary and effective measures to ensure, without delay" the supply "of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance."
Philippe Lazzarini, head of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, warned in a post on the social media platform X on Thursday that the ruling by the ICJ was “a stark reminder that the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip is man-made + worsening."
All of Gaza’s 2.3 million people are at severe levels of food insecurity, as aid deliveries have been impeded by Israeli military restrictions, ongoing hostilities and the breakdown of public order, according to the United Nations and international aid groups.
Famine is quite possibly present in parts of the northern Gaza Strip, a senior U.S. State Department official said on Friday, adding that a scarcity of food convoys was an obstacle to getting more aid into the Palestinian enclave under Israeli siege.
"While we can say with confidence that famine is a significant risk in the south and center but not present, in the north, it is both a risk and quite possibly is present in at least some areas," the official told Reuters on the condition of anonymity.
The U.N. has warned that Gaza faces famine and has complained of "overwhelming obstacles" to getting aid in and distributing it around the enclave.
This image contains sensitive content which some people may find offensive or disturbing.
Mohsen Muammar carries the body of his 3-year-old son Muhammad, who was killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, to his family house to bury him in Rafah, on March 29, 2024.
The war continues
The binding ICJ ruling, which has little means of enforcement, came as Israel's military said Friday it was continuing operations at the Shifa Hospital, the territory's largest, for a 12th day.
Palestinian health officials said two Israeli strikes on the Al-Shejaia suburb in eastern Gaza City killed 17 people, while an Israeli air strike on a house in the Al-Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip killed eight people.
The Israeli military said its forces continued operations in and around Gaza City's Al Shifa complex, "while mitigating harm to civilians, patients, medical teams and medical equipment." The Israel Defense Forces said that over the past day it killed about 200 militants in its Al-Shifa operation and located weapons and military infrastructure.
Near Al-Amal Hospital in Khan Yunis, Israeli troops carried out "targeted raids on terrorist infrastructure," killing dozens in combat backed by air support, the army said Thursday.
"We have bisected the Strip, and we are preparing to enter Rafah," Netanyahu said Thursday.
The armed wing of Hamas said their fighters targeted Israeli forces near to Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, one of the city's two hospitals blockaded by Israeli soldiers for several days.
In the far south of the Strip, Israel continued its bombardment in Rafah, the Palestinians' last refuge, where more than half of Gaza's 2.3 million people were sheltering. An air strike on a house killed 12 Palestinians late Thursday.
Some information for this report was provided by The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.