Closing summary
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told CNN that negotiators for the US, Egypt, Qatar and Israel came to an understanding on the basic contours of a hostage deal during talks in Paris. The deal is still under negotiation, said Sullivan, who added there will have to be indirect discussions by Qatar and Egypt with Hamas. Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, told CBS News that it was not clear yet whether a hostage deal would materialise from the talks, declining to discuss specifics, but saying Hamas needed to make more reasonable demands. Sullivan told NBC that the US president, Joe Biden, has not been briefed on Israel’s plan for military operations in Rafah, but believes civilian life must be protected.
Iran condemned the latest strikes by the US and the UK on Yemen, saying they were seeking to “escalate tensions and crises” in the region.
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees has been forced to “stretch every dollar” and juggle its finances in order to continue vital work in Gaza after 18 donor countries suspended funding over allegations of links to Hamas. The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) is facing a shortfall of $450m from a budget of $880m. It reports that it has been forced to pause aid deliveries to northern Gaza. The UNRWA said on Sunday that the humanitarian situation in Gaza is “catastrophic”, with people cramped in “severely overcrowded” shelters where diseases are spreading and clean water is scarce.
At least 29,692 Palestinians have been killed and 69,879 injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since 7 October, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement.
Israel is developing plans for expanding its offensive to Rafah, on the Gaza-Egypt border, where more than half the territory’s population of 2.3 million have sought refuge in desperate conditions. Aid groups have warned of a catastrophe if this happens. Palestinians seeking refuge from Israeli bombardment have described widespread starvation amid increasing reports of famine in Gaza.
Qatar will host mediated talks between Hamas and Israel that will aim to finalise an agreement on a truce this week, Egyptian security sources told Reuters. Representatives from both parties will later travel to Cairo for further talks aimed at reaching an agreement on the timing and mechanism for executing any deal, including hostage releases, the sources said.
Updated
An Israeli soldier seized by Hamas during their October 7 attack was killed the same day and his body is being held in Gaza, the army and a campaign group said on Sunday.
The Israeli army confirmed the death of Sergeant Oz Daniel, 19, while the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said his remains are held in the Palestinian territory, AFP reports.
“Oz’s body is still held captive by Hamas,” the forum said in a statement.
Daniel was a guitar player who “believed in the power of music to change the world,” the forum said.
In the October 7 attacks on Israel, in which 1,200 people were killed, Hamas abducted 250 hostages, of whom about 100 were released in a swap for Palestinian prisoners during a week-long ceasefire in November.
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