Negotiations for a truce in the war between Israel and Palestinian Hamas resume this Monday in Cairo, after “significant progress”, the day after an appeal by American Vice President Kamala Harris for an “immediate ceasefire” in the Gaza Strip, under threat of famine.

Negotiations for a truce in the war between Israel and Palestinian Hamas resume this Monday in Cairo, after “significant progress”, the day after an appeal by American Vice President Kamala Harris for an “immediate ceasefire” in the Gaza Strip, under threat of famine.

Meanwhile, the Israeli army continued its aerial and ground bombings on several sectors of the Palestinian territory, which has been under siege for five months. The international community, including the United States, Israel’s main ally, is multiplying calls for a truce.

The macabre death toll since the start of the war on October 7th now stands at 30,534 people in the Gaza Strip and, according to the Hamas Ministry of Health – to which the 100 deaths from the recent night raids were added. Israelis – and on the Israeli side, according to an AFP count based on official data, at least 1,160 people died following the Hamas attack on Israeli soil, precisely on October 7, a conflict with the particularity of counting on both sides, with mostly civilian victims.

The Hamas attack triggered a retaliation from Israel, the promise to annihilate Hamas, launching an intense and incessant bombing campaign on Gaza by air, land and sea, followed by a land offensive on October 27th.

In view of the heavy human toll and the catastrophic humanitarian situation, representatives from Egypt, Hamas, Qatar and the United States resumed negotiations with a view to a truce, with a television station close to the Egyptian secret services mentioning “significant progress” this Sunday .

Egypt, Qatar and the United States, which are acting as mediators, have been trying for several weeks to reach a truce agreement that would allow the release of hostages held in Gaza, in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.

Around 250 people had been kidnapped during the October 7 attack. A truce observed at the end of November had allowed the release of 105 hostages in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners.

According to the news channel AlQahera News, “Egypt continues its intense efforts to obtain a truce before Ramadan”, a month of sacred fasting for Muslims, which this year begins on the 10th or 11th of March.

By Nelson Nascimento with AFP