Hopes fade for speedy Gaza truce deal, martyrs' toll at 33,207
GAZA, Palestine (AFP) - Israel and Hamas both dampened hopes on Monday of a speedy breakthrough in Cairo talks towards a Gaza truce and hostage release deal after Egyptian state-linked media had reported "significant progress".
As the Gaza war raged on into a seventh month, Israel is under growing international pressure to agree to a ceasefire, including from its top ally and arms supplier the United States. The Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said that at least 33,207 people have been martyred in the war between Israel and Palestinian militants. The toll includes at least 38 deaths over the past 24 hours, a ministry statement said, adding that 75,933 people have been wounded in the Gaza Strip since the war began on October 7.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted on Sunday -- half a year after the October 7 attack -- that Israel is "one step away from victory" and has vowed to defeat remaining Hamas fighters in Gaza's far-southern Rafah city. On the same day however, the army also announced it had pulled its forces out of southern Gaza, although military commanders stressed the withdrawal was tactical and did not signal an end to the war.
Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said the troops would "prepare for future missions, including ... in Rafah" on the Egyptian border where almost 1.5 million Gazans live in crowded shelters and tents.
Amid the threats and ongoing fighting, Netanyahu has sent negotiators to fresh truce talks that started in Cairo on Sunday, joined by US, Qatari and Egyptian mediators.
US President Joe Biden sent CIA chief Bill Burns to the talks, three days after a terse phone call with Netanyahu in which Biden demanded a halt to the fighting and greater steps to help and protect Gaza civilians.
Egypt's state-linked news outlet Al-Qahera reported "significant progress being made on several contentious points of agreement", citing an unnamed high-ranking Egyptian source. The Qatari and Hamas delegations had left Cairo and were expected to return "within two days to finalise the terms of the agreement", it said, while the US and Israeli teams were also planning 48 hours of consultations.
However, Israel's Ynet news outlet cited an unidentified Israeli official as tempering the upbeat Egyptian report and stressing that "we still don't see a deal on the horizon". "The distance is still great and there has been nothing dramatic in the meantime," the Israeli official was quoted as saying by the Hebrew-language website.
A separate senior Israeli official was quoted by Ynet as saying that "patience is needed. There is potential, but we are not there yet". A senior Hamas official meanwhile told AFP that "we cannot speak of concrete progress so far", with disagreement centred on the pace of displaced Palestinians returning to Gaza City in the north.
