Israel says call for march on Al Aqsa aims to spread war to more fronts

Israel's Gallant: hopes Biden's optimistic talk of truce is right

Gaza health ministry says four children die of dehydration, malnutrition in hospital that has run out of food and fuel

Hamas called on Wednesday for Palestinians to march to Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque at the start of Ramadan, raising the stakes in ongoing negotiations for a truce in Gaza, which U.S. President Joe Biden hopes will be in place by then.

The call by Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh followed comments by Biden that an agreement could be reached between Israel and Hamas as soon as next week for a ceasefire during the Muslim fasting month expected to start this year on March 10.

Israel and Hamas, which both have delegations in Qatar this week hammering out details of a potential 40-day truce, have said there is still a big gulf between them, and the Qatari mediators say there is no breakthrough yet.

Al-Aqsa in Jerusalem's old city, one of the world's holiest sites for Muslims and the most sacred for Jews, has long been a flashpoint for potential violence, particularly during religious holidays.

With war raging in Gaza, Israel has said it may set limits to worship at Al-Aqsa during Ramadan, according to its security needs. Many Palestinians reject any such restrictions on their access to the site.

"This is a call on our people in Jerusalem and the West Bank to march to Al-Aqsa since the first day of Ramadan," said Haniyeh.

Israeli government spokesperson Tal Heirich described Haniyeh's remarks as "very unfortunate" and accused him of "trying to drag us to wars on other fronts".

"We certainly don't want that. We certainly will do whatever it takes to keep the calm," she said.

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said Hamas's aim was to take pressure off its fighters in Gaza by forcing Israel to shift security resources to Jerusalem and the West Bank.

"We musn't give them that. On the one hand we are operating against terrorist elements and on the other hand it is our obligation to allow freedom of worship, and I think we will reach the right arrangements that would allow that."

Hamas, which precipitated the war in Gaza by attacking Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and capturing 253 hostages according to Israeli tallies, has said it will not free all its captives without a comprehensive deal to end the war.

Israel, which has assaulted the Gaza Strip, killing 30,000 people according to Palestinian health authorities, says it will agree only to temporary pauses in fighting to release hostages, and will not end the war until Hamas is eradicated.

In a televised speech, Haniyeh said Hamas was showing flexibility in negotiations with Israel, but at the same time was ready to continue fighting. Israel has said any deal with Hamas would require the group to drop what Israel describes as "outlandish demands".

In the most serious push so far for an extended ceasefire, Hamas is weighing a proposal, agreed by Israel at talks with mediators in Paris last week, for a 40-day truce.

A senior source close to the talks said the Paris text would see Israeli troops pull out of populated areas, and around 40 hostages go free, including women, those under 19 or over 50 and the injured, in exchange for around 400 Palestinian detainees.

But it does not appear to meet Hamas's demand for a permanent end to the war and Israeli withdrawal, or resolve the fate of dozens of Israeli hostages who are fighting-age men.

HANIYEH CALLS FOR MORE SUPPORT FROM ARAB STATES

Haniyeh also called on the self-styled Axis of Resistance - allies of Iran including Lebanon's Hezbollah, Yemen's Houthis, and the Islamic Resistance in Iraq - as well as Arab states, to step up their support for Palestinians in Gaza suffering under Israel's assault and blockade.

"It is the duty of the Arab and Islamic nations to take the initiative to break the starvation conspiracy in Gaza," Haniyeh said.

One Palestinian official with knowledge of the ceasfire talks told Reuters mediation efforts were intensifying, but there was no certainty of success.

"Time is pressuring because Ramadan is closing in, mediators have stepped up their efforts," said the official, "It is early to say whether there will be an agreement soon, but things are not stalled," he said.

Israeli Defence Minister Gallant, asked about Biden's optimistic comments that a deal could be reached by next week, said: "Who am I to express an opinion about what the president said? I very much hope that he is right."

Food aid reaching Gaza has severely declined over the past month, and international aid agencies say residents are close to famine. Israel says its blockade on Gaza is essential in its war against Hamas and that it is allowing in humanitarian supplies.

On Wednesday, Israel said it had cooperated with the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Egypt, France and the United States in an airdrop of food aid to southern Gaza.

In Rafah, where more than half of Gaza's 2.3 million population is sheltering, several masked men armed with clubs and some with guns toured the markets in what they said was a bid to keep prices in check.

Their head scarves read 'Committee of People's Protection.' A masked spokesman told reporters they were formed to back the Hamas-led interior ministry, and make sure people weren't being exploited.

Aid agencies say the situation is most dire in the north of the Gaza Strip, which has been almost entirely cut off. Gaza's health ministry said on Wednesday that four children had died as a result of malnutrition and dehydration at northern Gaza's Kamal Adwan hospital, which had earlier said it was halting operations as it had run out of fuel.

The Israeli military said it was checking the report.

Biden says Gaza ceasefire could start by Monday

U.S. President Joe Biden said a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas could come into effect as soon as Monday as Qatar-led truce talks accelerated.

Israel and Hama have been negotiating over a ceasefire through Qatari, Egyptian, and U.S. mediators for months, with officials trying to reach a deal before the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan on March 10.

“We’re not done yet,” Biden told reporters. “My hope is by next Monday we’ll have a ceasefire.”

40-day pause under consideration

Sources with knowledge of the proposed deal have said the agreement would see a 40-day pause in all military operations in Gaza and the exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners, Reuters reported. The deal would include the repair of Gazan hospitals and bakeries, the daily entry of 500 aid trucks into the enclave, and the delivery of thousands of tents and caravans for the displaced. If agreed, Hamas would release 40 Israeli hostages, including women, children, and the elderly, as well as people who are sick. In exchange, Israel would release 400 Palestinian prisoners with a promise to not rearrest them. Approximately 130 hostages taken from Israel during Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack are still being held in Gaza, a number that includes about two dozen people that Israeli officials believe have died.

Biden warns of waning global support amid mounting death toll

More than 29,800 Palestinians have died since the war began on Oct. 7, and millions have been displaced by the fighting. The humanitarian impact of a military campaign in the Gazan city of Rafah, where Israel alleges the last of Hamas’ leaders are hiding, could be catastrophic. Israel has reportedly committed to evacuating civilians from the city before it launches an attack, but Biden on Monday warned that international support for Israel is waning as the death toll climbs. The “only way Israel ultimately survives” is with a deal that offers “peace and security for Israelis and Palestinians,” he said. Those comments can be read as a warning to his counterpart, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Al Jazeera correspondent Patty Culhane noted: “He may be trying to push parties in the talks and laying a mark or two for Netanyahu that, come Monday, there needs to be a ceasefire,” she said. “And if there isn’t, the president will have looked publicly embarrassed by him, and that is not something that sits well with US presidents.”

Israel’s post-war plan criticized by US

Netanyahu’s plan for post-war Gaza involves the Israel Defense Force’s “indefinite freedom” to continue operating in the enclave, in order to monitor for future terror activity, Al-Monitor reported last week. That plan has drawn criticism from the U.S. and Hamas, both of whom view the plan as incompatible with stability in the area. Washington is against any “reoccupation” of Gaza after the war, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said. Meanwhile, Hamas senior official Osama Hamdan said that “when it comes to the ‘day after’ in the Gaza Strip, Netanyahu is presenting ideas which he knows fully well will never succeed.”

Gaza's warring enemies cautious over truce talks after Biden says deal nearing

Israel and Hamas as well as Qatari mediators all sounded notes of caution on Tuesday about progress towards a truce in Gaza, after U.S. President Joe Biden said he believed a ceasefire could be reached in under a week to halt the war for Ramadan.

Hamas is weighing a proposal, agreed by Israel at talks with mediators in Paris last week, for a 40-day ceasefire, which would be the first extended truce of the five-month-old war. Both sides have delegations in Qatar this week hammering out details.

According to a source close to the ceasefire talks, the Paris proposal would see militants free some but not all of the hostages in return for Israel's release of hundreds of Palestinian detainees, a surge in humanitarian aid for Gaza and Israeli troops pulling out of populated areas in the enclave.

But it appears to stop short of satisfying Hamas' main demand that any agreement include a clear path towards a permanent end to the war and Israeli withdrawal, or resolving the fate of fighting-age Israeli men among the hostages.

In remarks broadcast on NBC's "Late Night with Seth Meyers", Biden said Israel agreed to halt fighting in Gaza for Ramadan, the Muslim fasting month, which is expected to begin on March 10. On Monday, the president said he hoped a ceasefire agreement would be nailed down by March 4.

At the United Nations in New York, aid officials told the Security Council on Tuesday that one-quarter of Gaza's population is "one step" away from famine.

"Simply put, Israel must do more" to increase the flow of aid, said Robert Wood, deputy U.N. ambassador for the U.S., Israel's longtime ally.

In an interview with the Guardian newspaper, a U.N. appointed expert on the right to food, Michael Fakhri, accused Israel of "intentionally depriving people of food" in Gaza, saying this "is clearly a war crime".

Israel's Deputy U.N. Ambassador Jonathan Miller told the council that Israel is committed to improving the humanitarian situation in Gaza and that the quantity and pace of aid depended on the capacity of the U.N. and other agencies.

"Israel has been clear in its policies. There is absolutely no limit, and I repeat, there is no limit to the amount of humanitarian aid that can be sent to the civilian population of Gaza," Miller told the Security Council.

'OUTLANDISH DEMANDS'

Earlier, Israeli government spokesperson Tal Heinrich said any deal for a ceasefire in Gaza would still require Hamas to drop "outlandish demands". She added: "We are willing. But the question remains whether Hamas are willing."

Qatar, which has acted as the main mediator, said a breakthrough had yet to be reached.

"We don't have a final agreement on any of the issues that are hampering reaching an agreement," said Majed Al Ansari, spokesperson for Qatar's foreign ministry. "We remain hopeful that we can get to some kind of agreement."

Two senior Hamas officials told Reuters that Biden's remarks seemed premature. There are "still big gaps to be bridged", one of them said.

Hamas fighters killed 1,200 people and captured 253 hostages on Oct. 7, according to Israeli tallies, triggering Israel's ground assault on Gaza. Health authorities in the enclave say nearly 30,000 people have been confirmed killed.

Hamas has long said it will release all of its hostages only as part of a deal that ends the war for good. Israel has said it will consider only temporary pauses, and will not end the war until it eradicates the Islamist militant group.

According to the senior source close to the talks, the draft proposal on the table is for a 40-day truce during which Hamas would free around 40 hostages - including women, those under 19 or over 50 years old, and the sick - in return for around 400 Palestinian detainees, at a 10-for-one ratio.

Israel would reposition its troops outside of settled areas. Gaza residents, apart from men of fighting age, would be permitted to return home to areas previously evacuated, and aid would be ramped up, including urgent housing supplies.

In Rafah, where more than half of Gaza's 2.3 million people are now sheltering on the southern edge of the territory, Rehab Redwan despaired at the prospect of a temporary truce leading only to a re-eruption of fighting. The war's only ceasefire so far collapsed in November after just a week.

"We hope it will be a permanent ceasefire. We don't want to go back to war because war after the first truce destroyed us and destroyed our houses," said Redwan, who fled her home in Khan Younis and is now living in a roadside tent.