https://arab.news/bfn57
- 鈥淭his round of negotiations began without any preconditions from either side,鈥� said Al-Nunu
- 鈥淗amas will present its viewpoint on all issues, especially ending the war鈥�
JERUSALEM/CAIRO: Israel and Hamas resumed ceasefire talks on Saturday in Qatar, both sides said, even as Israeli forces ramped up a bombing campaign that has killed hundreds of people over 72 hours, and mobilized for a massive new ground assault.
Palestinian health authorities said at least 146 people had been confirmed killed in the third day of Israel鈥檚 latest bombing campaign, one of the deadliest waves of strikes since a ceasefire collapsed in March. Many hundreds more were wounded in hospitals and countless others buried under rubble.
Israel says it is mobilizing to seize more ground in Gaza in a new campaign dubbed 鈥淥peration Gideon鈥檚 Chariots,鈥� following a visit this week to the Middle East by US President Donald Trump. It has halted all supplies entering Gaza since the start of March, leading to rising international concern over the plight of the enclave鈥檚 2.3 million residents.
Reuters journalists saw Israeli tanks assembled on the outskirts of the enclave. Inside Gaza, people fled from the bombardment of northern areas, pushing their belongings on carts.
鈥淭hey are bombing houses, and the people are afraid. What should we do?鈥� Imad Naseer, 50, fleeing his home in the face of the assault, told Reuters. 鈥淭hey treat us as if we are animals, not as humans.鈥�
Taher Al-Nono, the media adviser for the Hamas leadership, told Reuters a new round of indirect talks with the Israeli delegation in Doha began on Saturday, discussing all issues 鈥渨ithout pre-conditions.鈥�
鈥淭he Hamas delegation outlined the position of the group and the necessity to end the war, swap prisoners, the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, and allowing humanitarian aid and all the needs of the people of Gaza back into the strip,鈥� he added.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz also said in a statement that negotiations on a deal to release Israeli hostages held by Hamas had resumed in Doha. He noted that the talks had started without Israel first agreeing to a ceasefire or to lift its blockade.
Israel鈥檚 military said it was conducting extensive strikes and mobilizing troops with the aim of achieving 鈥渙perational control鈥� in parts of Gaza.
Gaza health authorities said most of those killed on Saturday were in towns on the northern edge of the enclave, including Beit Lahiya and the Jabalia refugee camp, as well as in the southern city of Khan Younis. They said 459 people had been injured.
Israeli forces had told people to leave the northern areas on Friday.
鈥淣orthern Gaza is witnessing a systematic campaign of extermination,鈥� Hamas said in a statement, calling on Arab leaders at a summit in Baghdad to help stop the aggression and ensure the delivery of aid.
FAMINE LOOMS
Talks since March have failed to restore a truce under which Hamas would release remaining hostages captured in the October, 2023 assault on Israel that precipitated the war. Hamas has long said it would not free them unless Israel ends its campaign; Israel says it will fight on until Hamas is dismantled.
At the Arab League summit, Egypt鈥檚 President Abdel-Fatah El-Sisi, whose country mediates Gaza peace talks alongside Qatar, said Israel鈥檚 actions aimed at 鈥渙bliterating and annihilating鈥� the Palestinians and 鈥渆nding their existence in the Gaza Strip.鈥�
United Nations experts say famine now looms in Gaza more than two months after Israel halted all deliveries of supplies. UN aid chief Tom Fletcher asked the Security Council this week if it would act to 鈥減revent genocide.鈥�
Israel says enough food reached Gaza during the six-week ceasefire at the start of the year to stave off hunger now, and blames Hamas for the suffering of civilians for operating among them and hijacking aid, which Hamas denies.
On Friday, Trump said 鈥渁 lot of people are starving鈥� in Gaza.
A US-backed foundation aims to start distributing aid to Gazans by the end of May using private US security and logistics firms. The UN has said it won鈥檛 work with them because they are not impartial.
Gaza鈥檚 health system is barely operational with hospitals hit repeatedly by the Israeli military during the 19-month war and medical supplies drying up. The head of the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza, Marwan Al-Sultan, said huge numbers of wounded victims of the latest bombing were in critical condition.
鈥淪ince midnight, we have received 58 martyrs, while a large number of victims remain under the rubble. The situation inside the hospital is catastrophic,鈥� he said on X.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on May 5 that Israel was planning an expanded offensive against Hamas. His security cabinet approved plans that could involve seizing the entire strip and controlling aid.
Israel鈥檚 declared goal in Gaza is the elimination of the military and governmental capabilities of Hamas, which attacked Israeli communities on October 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people and seizing about 250 hostages.
Its military campaign has devastated the enclave, pushing nearly all residents from their homes and killing more than 53,000 people according to Gaza health authorities.
NBC News reported on Friday, citing five sources, that the Trump administration was working on a plan to permanently relocate as many as one million Palestinians from Gaza to Libya. All major Palestinian political groups reject any such displacement.