A Hamas delegation arrived in Egypt on Saturday to resume Gaza truce talks as Egyptian media reported "significant progress in the negotiations" between the Palestinian group and Israel. A top Israeli official later downplayed the report, saying Israel will send a delegation to Cairo for talks on a Gaza truce only if it sees "positive movement" on a framework for a hostage deal. Read our blog to see how the day's events unfolded.
This blog is no longer being updated. For more coverage of the Israel-Hamas war, click here.
Summary:
- A Hamas delegation arrived Saturday in Egypt for the latest round of talks on a Gaza ceasefire. Al-Qahera News, linked to Egyptian intelligence services, quoted an unnamed high-ranking source as saying that “significant progress in the negotiations” had been made between the Palestinian militant group and Israel.
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A top Israeli official on Saturday seemed to downplay the reports of progress in the negotiations, saying that Israel will send a delegation to Cairo for talks on a Gaza truce only if it sees "positive movement" on a framework for a hostage deal. "What we are looking at is an agreement over a framework for a possible hostage deal," the official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
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At least 34,654 Palestinians have been killed and an estimated 77,908 have been wounded in Israel’s military offensive in Gaza, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory. Some 1,170 people were killed in the Hamas-led October 7 attacks and 250 people were taken hostage, according to Israeli figures, with 132 still missing.
Yesterday's key developments:
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A top UN official said Friday that hard-hit northern Gaza was now in “full-blown famine” after more than six months of war between Israel and Hamas and severe Israeli restrictions on food deliveries to the Palestinian territory.
- An Israeli military offensive in Rafah "could be a slaughter of civilians and an incredible blow to the humanitarian operation in the entire (Gaza) strip", UN spokesperson Jens Laerke said on Friday.
- French police on Friday evacuated students at Paris's Sciences Po university who were staging a sit-in to protest the war in Gaza.
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President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday said Turkey’s move to halt trade with Israel was aimed at forcing the country to a ceasefire over Gaza and increasing the amount of humanitarian aid entering the besieged enclave.
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Police in the US have arrested more than 2,300 people during pro-Palestinian protests at college campuses across the country in recent weeks, sometimes using riot gear, tactical vehicles and flash-bang devices.
Gaza’s health ministry collects data from the enclave’s hospitals and the Palestinian Red Crescent. For more on the health ministry’s casualty figures, click here.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, Reuters, AP)
