Egypt urges two-day truce as Israel kills 1,000 during northern Gaza siege

President el-Sisi’s program includes exchanging 4 Israeli captives held successful Gaza for Palestinian prisoners successful Israeli jails.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has projected a two-day truce successful Gaza that would perchance pave the mode for a semipermanent ceasefire, arsenic Israel’s genocide has killed much than 1,000 Palestinians successful the bluish areas of the Strip successful little than a month.

El-Sisi’s proposal, which includes exchanging 4 Israeli captives held successful Gaza for Palestinian prisoners successful Israeli jails, came arsenic thousands of trapped civilians endure relentless Israeli attacks that person killed astatine slightest 50 people, including 5 journalists, since Sunday.

At a quality league successful Cairo connected Sunday, el-Sisi said the 48-hour lull successful warring and captive speech would beryllium followed by much talks successful the adjacent 10 days, with the anticipation that negotiators could hammer retired a bid deal.

Out of 251 captives seized by Hamas during the October 7, 2023 onslaught wrong the Israeli territory, 97 are believed to beryllium inactive held successful Gaza, including 34 the Israeli subject claims are dead. More than 100 captives were released during a weeklong truce past November.

El-Sisi did not accidental whether the program had been formally presented to either Israel oregon Hamas. But efforts to defuse the struggle person resumed successful the Qatari superior of Doha with the directors of the CIA and Israel’s Mossad taking part.

There was nary contiguous remark from Israel oregon Hamas connected the plan.

Egypt, alongside Qatar and the United States, has for months been mediating indirect talks with small success. Among the cardinal issues preventing a breakthrough has been Hamas’s insistence that Israel retreat wholly from Gaza, which Israeli officials person repeatedly rejected.

Palestinians stitchery to bargain breadstuff from a bakery successful Khan Younis successful confederate Gaza [Mohammed Salem/Reuters]

On Sunday, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said “painful concessions” would beryllium needed successful negotiations, and that subject enactment unsocial would not execute the country’s warfare aims.

Al Jazeera’s elder governmental expert Marwan Bishara said with the US, Egypt and Qatar progressive successful the negotiations, “there is simply a accidental for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to get thing much contiguous than what helium would person gotten backmost successful June.”

But Bishara added that it is “unclear” if negotiations would effect successful a woody this time, saying “the continuation of the warfare is important” to Netanyahu “politically and personally”.

Meanwhile, Al Jazeera correspondents successful Gaza connected Monday said the latest Israeli onslaught connected a radical of radical successful the Shujayea neighbourhood of Gaza City successful the northbound of the Strip has killed astatine slightest 3 people. Another Palestinian was killed successful a abstracted Israeli onslaught successful cardinal Gaza’s Nuseirat exile camp, according to the Wafa quality agency.

Earlier, Wafa reported that Israeli forces deed the Asma School lodging displaced Palestinians successful the Shati exile campy successful bluish Gaza, sidesplitting astatine slightest 11 people, including 3 journalists.

In all, astatine slightest 53 radical were killed by Israeli raids crossed Gaza connected Sunday and aboriginal Monday, astir of them successful the north.

Gaza’s Government Media Office said the 5 journalists killed connected Sunday were Saed Radwan from Al-Aqsa TV, Hamza Abu Salmiya from the Sanad News Agency, Haneen Baroud from Al-Quds Foundation, Abdul Rahman Samir al-Tanani from Sawt Al-Shaab, and Nadia Imad al-Sayed, who worked for aggregate media outlets.

Their sidesplitting brings to astatine slightest 170 the fig of journalists killed successful Gaza since October 7 past year, according to the Strip’s media office. The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) places the fig of journalists killed successful Gaza astatine 131.

Palestinian-American writer Said Arikat told Al Jazeera that Netanyahu and his furniture person nary strategy connected Gaza different than making the territory “uninhabitable”.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres besides expressed heavy interest for the destiny of Gaza’s civilians. “The plight of Palestinian civilians trapped successful northbound Gaza is unbearable,” Guterres’s spokesperson said connected Sunday.

Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary, reporting from Deir el-Balah successful Gaza, described the country successful the northbound successful the past 24 hours arsenic “horrifying”.

“It’s inactive escalating, and radical are trying to scope out, crying, feeling that they’ve been abandoned, asking for food, h2o and medicine,” she said.

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Al Jazeera and quality agencies