Israeli drone strikes in Rafah kill three Palestinians amid escalating violence and fragile ceasefire talks in Cairo.
Israeli assaults on Gaza have killed three Palestinians and wounded a number of within the southern governorate of Rafah as Hamas and Egyptian officers meet in Cairo for talks on the way forward for a precarious ceasefire.
On Saturday morning, an Israeli drone focused a gaggle of individuals east of Rafah metropolis, killing two Palestinians. Our colleagues on the bottom reported that one individual was additionally killed by Israeli hearth in at-Tannour, additionally east of Rafah.
Since Friday night time, Rafah has been the goal of intense Israeli assaults from tanks and drones with shelling impacting residential areas, together with al-Jnaina, ash-Shawka and Tal as-Sultan, the Palestinian information company Wafa reported.
Based on Gaza’s Ministry of Well being, at the very least 48,453 Palestinians have been killed and 111,860 wounded by Israeli assaults since October 7, 2023.
On the similar time, the top of the enclave’s Authorities Media Workplace reported on Saturday in marking Worldwide Ladies’s Day that 12,316 ladies have been killed all through the battle.
“Ladies’s Day coincides with the continuation of the Israeli siege and the prevention of support as ladies dwell in catastrophic humanitarian situations and undergo from hunger and thirst,” Salama Maarouf stated.
Not less than 2,000 ladies and ladies have been completely disabled on account of amputations, in accordance with authorities knowledge.
Ceasefire talks
Amid the continued assaults, a Hamas delegation arrived within the Egyptian capital, Cairo, on Friday to debate the Gaza ceasefire.
Based on the AFP information company, two senior Hamas members are a part of a high-level delegation that’s anticipated to speak to Egyptian officers on Saturday in regards to the subsequent section of the ceasefire.
Reporting from Gaza Metropolis, Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary stated Palestinians are ready for any information in regards to the deal.
“We all know that the primary section of the ceasefire ended on March 1, and Israel and Hamas agreed on a truce for every week. At the moment, that truce involves an finish,” Khoudary reported. “Palestinians are very anxious and harassed that the second section of the ceasefire hasn’t taken impact but. Individuals listed here are ready for any information from these negotiations and really feel that this ceasefire is fragile.”
As Palestinians await information of the ceasefire, the Israeli blockade of humanitarian support is placing immense strain on folks already struggling to get by.
“This blockade is suffocating Palestinians. They’re saying they by no means imagined {that a} ceasefire and Ramadan would come and that they’d not have the ability to prepare dinner their favorite dishes,” Khoudary defined, including that group kitchens are actually operating out of inventory.
On the finish of February, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated humanitarian support would not enter Gaza in retaliation for Hamas not accepting Israel’s proposal for section one of many ceasefire to be prolonged.
In the meantime, greater than 50 freed Israeli captives urged Netanyahu to completely implement the Gaza ceasefire and safe the discharge of these nonetheless held in Gaza.
“We who’ve skilled the inferno know {that a} return to battle is life-threatening for these nonetheless left behind,” the 56 former captives stated in a letter posted on Instagram. “Implement the settlement in full in a single single manoeuvre.”
