Hamas negotiators have arrived in Cairo for further talks on a possible Gaza truce, a Hamas official told Reuters.
“The results today will be different. We have reached an agreement over many points, and a few points remain,” one Egyptian security source told Reuters.
An unnamed Palestinian official familiar with the mediation efforts also expressed cautious optimism, telling Reuters: “Things look better this time but whether an agreement is on hand would depend on whether Israel has offered what it takes for that to happen.”
Negotiations have been impeded by Hamas’ long-standing demand for Israel to commit to ending its offensive clashing with Israel’s insistence on resuming its operations to dismantle Hamas following any truce.
The Hamas delegation travelled to Cairo from its movement’s headquarters in Qatar, which along with Egypt, is involved in mediating the negotiations.
The CIA’s director William Burns had arrived on Friday with the purpose of indirect diplomacy, Reuters reported, citing Egyptian sources.
We’re wrapping up this blog for the day. Here is a recap of the day’s developments:
The Hamas delegation arrived in Cairo earlier on Saturday and has begun talks with Qatari and Egyptian mediators on a possible Gaza truce. Taher Al-Nono, a Hamas official and advisor to Hamas’ chief, told Reuters that Hamas was dealing with their proposals “with full seriousness and responsibility” – but reiterated demands for a full end to the war.
The delegation’s arrival comes after a senior Hamas spokesperson told Al Jazeera that Israel’s planned Rafah assault was another “key” issue.
The issue of lasting peace is proving a challenge in negotiations: Hamas has long called for Israel to commit to ending its offensive, while Israel continues to rule this out, insisting that any ceasefire will be followed by its army resuming fighting in order to root out Hamas.
Israel has briefed the US on its plan to evacuate Palestinian civilians during a planned offensive on the southern city of Rafah, US officials familiar with the matter have told AP – but the US administration reportedly remains unchanged in its view that the assault would risk too many civilian lives.
Israeli forces killed at least three Palestinians during an overnight raid in a village near the city of Tulkarm in the occupied West Bank, Reuters reports, citing Palestinian officials and its reporter at the scene.
A final bit of context as we wait for further updates from Cairo. Anonymous sources from different delegations have offered varying views on the negotiations: AP reports that Egyptian and US mediators have told of signs of compromise in recent days, and Reuters reports that an unnamed Palestinian official voiced cautious optimism.
But an Israeli official downplayed the prospects for a full end to the war – one of Hamas’ longstanding demands – telling AP Israel was committed to the Rafah invasion and that it will not agree to end the war as part of a deal to release hostages.
We’ll be shutting this blog shortly – thank you for reading.
Israeli forces have shelled a mosque in the town of Al-Fukhari, east of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, according to Al Jazeera, which cites its correspondent.
Israeli shelling also hit the towns of al-Mughraqa and az-Zahra in central Gaza, according to the report.
Israeli forces kill at least three Palestinians during overnight West Bank raid
Israeli forces killed at least three Palestinians during an overnight raid in a village near the city of Tulkarm in the occupied West Bank, according to Palestinian officials and a Reuters reporter present.
The Palestinian health ministry said one of the Palestinians had died on the way to hospital on Saturday following the raid in Deir al-Ghusun, while a Reuters reporter at the scene saw Israeli forces leave the village with two other bodies.
The Israeli military said it was conducting “counterterrorism activities in the area”.
The raid was the latest in a series of clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinians in the occupied West Bank that have been ongoing for years but have stepped since the war began. At least 460 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces or Jewish settlers in the West Bank or East Jerusalem since 7 October, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
US secretary of state Antony Blinken has said that Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war reflects the position of “a large majority of Israelis”, the Times of Israel reports.
The Times of Israel quotes Blinken as saying at an event in Arizona: “This is a complicated government. It’s a balancing act when you have a coalition. And if you’re just looking at the politics of it, that’s something that he has to factor in.”
The outlet reported that Blinken said that regardless of views on Netanyahu and his government, “what’s important to understand is that much of what he’s doing is not simply a reflection of his politics or his policies; it’s actually a reflection of where a large majority of Israelis are in this moment”.
Polls last month show nearly three-quarters of the Israeli public want Netanyahu to resign. 68% said Netanyahu is not doing well in his handling of the war, compared with 29% who said he is, the poll by Kan found, according to the Times of Israel. Respondents were also asked whether the government is “doing enough to bring back the hostages,” to which 56% responded that it was not and 39% said it was.
A bit of further context: the surveys come after a poll in January showed the majority of Israelis (81.5%) believed the best way to secure the release of hostages was by exerting military pressure on Hamas until it agreed to terms acceptable to Israel for their release.
In the same January poll, the public was asked whether the release of hostages or victory against Hamas was more important, with a slight majority of 46.6% responding that it was more important that the hostages be released, and 44.8% choosing the war’s outcome.
At the Jerusalem theatre this week, concertgoers and staff expressed a mixture of anger, sadness and defiance as weeks of pro-Palestinian protests across dozens of US college campuses reached a tumultuous climax 6,000 miles away.
The noisy demonstrations have been closely followed in Israel, reported by major media and discussed by prominent public figures.
Idan Degani, a security guard at the theatre, said many in Israel viewed the protests with confusion and anxiety, seeing them as an attack on the country and not just its government.
“We didn’t know so many people hated Israel. I don’t think these young people know a lot about Israel or about the conflict. I think the older people do, but not this younger generation,” the 28-year-old said, as he watched late arrivals hurry for a programme of Haydn and Schubert. “I certainly don’t think it will change how anyone here sees the war.”
Such feelings appear widespread among the Jewish majority in Israel, seven months after war was triggered by surprise attacks launched by Hamas into the south of the country in which about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed and 250 taken hostage.
“We thought we understood how much hate there was out there. I mean, I’m a child of Holocaust survivors, but it’s still such a shock. It makes it unbelievably real,” said Danae Marx, a public relations specialist at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
In Bethlehem, food stalls are sparse as farmlands are under attack. The Guardian spoke to a Palestinian restauranteur about the fight to keep his people’s heritage alive through food.
Fadi Kattan looked forlornly at the stalls inside the Bethlehem vegetable market bearing small quantities of oranges, watermelons and cauliflowers. “This stall should be heaped with products, he said. “And over there should be piles of aubergines and courgettes.”
The watermelons from Jenin looked too small for the season, while he wasn’t sure where the boxes of oranges were from. They would normally be from Gaza. At Um Nabil’s stall in the West Bank market where Kattan is a regular customer, she told him she could no longer afford to bring in the best small local cucumbers or piles of green cherries from her village of Artas.
Chef Fadi Kattan talks to Un Nabil in the market of Bethlehem, West Bank. Photograph: Quique Kierszenbaum/The Guardian
Kattan, a chef with restaurants in Bethlehem and in London, opens his forthcoming book, named after the city where he grew up, by saying cooking is “how I tell Bethlehem’s story”. It was after the book had gone to print, when on 7 October Hamas attacked towns and kibbutzim in southern Israel, followed by an intense Israeli bombardment of Gaza, that daily life changed dramatically.
The destruction of Gaza’s agricultural land has meant no citrus, strawberries or vegetables, which would normally be sold in the West Bank at this time of year. A wave of attacks from Israeli settlers in the West Bank, combined with road closures and raids by Israeli forces, has also left farmers in the towns around Bethlehem struggling to farm or bring their products to market.
Hamas negotiators have arrived in Cairo for further talks on a possible Gaza truce.
The delegation’s arrival comes after a senior Hamas spokesperson reportedly said that ceasefire talks remain ongoing, with Israel’s planned Rafah assault a “key” issue.
A stumbling block in the talks has been a longterm ceasefire: Hamas has long called for Israel to commit to ending its offensive; while Israel insists that a truce will be followed by it resuming fighting in order to root out Hamas.
The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry has published the latest casualty figures: at least 34,654 Palestinians have been killed, and 77,908 injured. It said 32 people were killed and 41 injured in the latest 24-hour reporting period.
Israel has briefed the US on its plan to evacuate Palestinian civilians during a planned offensive on the southern city of Rafah, US officials familiar with the matter have told AP – but the US administration reportedly remains unchanged in its view that the assault would risk too many civilian lives.
Meanwhile, Prof Ghassan Abu-Sittah, the British-Palestinian rector of the University of Glasgow and a reconstructive surgeon, has said he has been denied entry to France, where he was due to make a speech at the Senate.
Hamas negotiators have arrived in Cairo for further talks on a possible Gaza truce, a Hamas official told Reuters.
“The results today will be different. We have reached an agreement over many points, and a few points remain,” one Egyptian security source told Reuters.
An unnamed Palestinian official familiar with the mediation efforts also expressed cautious optimism, telling Reuters: “Things look better this time but whether an agreement is on hand would depend on whether Israel has offered what it takes for that to happen.”
Negotiations have been impeded by Hamas’ long-standing demand for Israel to commit to ending its offensive clashing with Israel’s insistence on resuming its operations to dismantle Hamas following any truce.
The Hamas delegation travelled to Cairo from its movement’s headquarters in Qatar, which along with Egypt, is involved in mediating the negotiations.
The CIA’s director William Burns had arrived on Friday with the purpose of indirect diplomacy, Reuters reported, citing Egyptian sources.
Students involved in a pro-Palestinian encampment protest on the grounds of Trinity College in Dublin have vowed to maintain their action “indefinitely”.
Visitors were unable to access the historic Book of Kells on Saturday due to the action that began on Friday evening when student activists set up tents on the university campus, the PA news agency reports.
Photos on social media showed benches stacked up blocking the entrance to the manuscript and tourist attraction. Protesters have vowed to keep up a “blockade” of the Book of Kells until the university cuts its ties to Israel.
Benches positioned by students taking part in an encampment protest over the Gaza conflict on the grounds of Trinity College in Dublin. Photograph: Laszlo Molnarfi/PA
Trinity College said the encampment was “unauthorised”, and while it supported the right of students to protest, such action must be taken within the rules of the university. Organisers said 70 students in 43 tents took part.
Outgoing students’ union president Laszlo Molnarfi said he and fellow protesters would remain indefinitely.
“We plan on staying here indefinitely, our message is there is no business as usual during a genocide,” he told the PA news agency.
Students at Trinity College Dublin have set up an encampment for Palestine, demanding that their university cut ties with Israel as per BDS principles supported by the vast majority of students and staff. 🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸 @TrinityBDS@tcdsu@tcddublinpic.twitter.com/Uw44FjLmaJ
— László Molnárfi (SU) (@TCDSU_President) May 3, 2024
“And when our academic institution, Trinity College Dublin, has ties to Israeli companies, entities and universities that are complicit in the war industry, we must speak up.
“And that is why we are doing this. And we must speak up in this disruptive, powerful way. Because when we tried to engage with the authorities, with petitions and letters and meetings, we were met with shameful silence.”
Ceasefire talks ongoing while Rafah assault a 'key' issue, Hamas spokesperson reportedly says
Ceasefire talks mediated by Qatar and Egypt continue, a senior Hamas spokesperson has told Al Jazeera, with Israel’s planned assault on Rafah a “key element”.
Osama Hamdan told the Qatari-owned outlet that that negotiations are still ongoing. “And it’s clear that we are moving forward. There are some good points,” Hamdan told the outlet. “But till now, we are still talking about the main issue, which is the complete ceasefire and complete withdrawal from Gaza. We hope to find some good and positive answers today.”
Hamdan said that one of the “key elements” under discussion is Netanyahu’s planned Rafah assault.
“Unfortunately, there was a clear statement from Netanyahu saying that regardless to what may happen, if there was a ceasefire or not, he will continue the attack,” he told Al Jazeera. “That means there will be no ceasefire, and that means that the attack will be continued, which is against what we are discussing.”
“At least we want to know exactly what does it mean, his statement, and the reaction from the mediators. Our understanding that any achievement for a ceasefire means that there will be no more attacks against Gaza and Rafah,” he said.
Further detail and background on Prof Ghassan Abu-Sittah, the plastic and reconstructive surgeon who was denied entry to France, where he was due to speak to the French senate later today. Abu-Sittah has provided testimony on the war in Gaza after operating there during the conflict.
“They are preventing me from entering France. I am supposed to speak at the French Senate Today,” said Sitta, who remains under French detention. “Fortress Europe silencing the witnesses to the genocide while Israel kills them in prison.”
During the months of October and November 2023 at the beginning of Israel’s war on Gaza that has since killed more than 34,000 Palestinians, Abu-Sittah operated from Gaza’s Al Shifa and Al Ahli Baptist hospitals. During his 43 days, he described witnessing a “massacre unfold” in Gaza and the use of white phosphorus munitions, which Israel has denied. He has also provided evidence to Scotland Yard.
The International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) called his detention an “unacceptable harassment of a globally respected medical professional”.
“By design, the Germans are silencing a key witness to Israel’s war crimes. This follows their action taken on 12 April to bar Dr Abu Sitta’s entry to Berlin to participate in the Palestine Congress - an event which German police later disbanded,” the independent organisation said in a statement.
“ICJP are instructing lawyers in France and Germany to see that the German’s authoritarian crackdown on free speech and witness testimony won’t stand,” ICJP director Tayab Ali said.
British-Palestinian surgeon and university rector says he was barred from entering France
Prof Ghassan Abu-Sittah, the British-Palestinian rector of the University of Glasgow and a reconstructive surgeon, has said he has been denied entry to France, where he was due to make a speech at the Senate.
“I am at Charles De Gaulle airport. They are preventing me from entering France. I am supposed to speak at the French Senate today. They say the Germans put a 1 year ban on my entry to Europe,” Abu-Sittah wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
“Fortress Europe silencing the witnesses to the genocide while Israel kills them in prison,” he added.
I am at Charles De Gaule airport. O was supposed to speak in tge French parliament. They are preventing me from entering France. They say the Germans put a 1 year ban on my entry to Europe
— Ghassan Abu Sitta (@GhassanAbuSitt1) May 4, 2024
The surgeon spent 43 days in Gaza to help treat injured people last year, and in October alleged that counter-terror police “harassed” his family at his home in London. He told BBC Newsnight that officers questioned his wife about why he had travelled to Gaza, who paid for his ticket and which charity he was helping.
As summer approaches, Palestinians face the further risk of extreme temperatures exacerbated by climate change, relief organisations have warned.
The heat will bring with it disease-spreading mice and rats, said Louise Wateridge, an UNRWA communications officer in Rafah told Bloomberg, while diarrhoea and Hepatitis A are also concerns.
“There’s nowhere to safely get rid of trash,” Wateridge told the outlet. “You’ve got people living under these sheets of plastic in this very unstable environment. It’s not going to improve at all.”
The warning come after Rafah recorded temperatures of 39.1C (102F) on 14 April – 14C higher than the 30-year averagefor that date. Although temperatures cooled in following days, fears remain that summer may bring far higher heat risks and people in Rafah have no way to cool down in plastic tents.
The heatwave had devastating consequences:
At least two children died from heat-related causes, Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner General of the Palestinian relief agency UNRWA, said on X, formerly Twitter.
An 18-year-old Palestinian woman, Lara Sayegh, also died in the heatwave.
Piles of garbage and sewage in front of IDP tents in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip. Photograph: Saher Alghorra/ZUMA Press Wire/REX/Shutterstock
