GAZA: The US top diplomat called on Hamas on Tuesday to accept a plan for an “immediate ceasefire” with the Zionist entity as mediators met for a third day in Cairo in efforts to end almost five months of fighting. As famine threatens Gazans, US and Jordanian planes again airdropped food aid into the besieged territory of 2.4 million people in a joint operation with Egypt and France. Bombing and fighting in the war killed another 97 people, said the health ministry in Gaza.

In Cairo, US and Hamas envoys were meeting Egyptian and Qatari mediators for a third day in protracted negotiations to end the fighting and free captives before the holy fasting month of Ramadan starts on March 10 or 11. Egypt’s AlQahera News, which is close to the country’s intelligence services, said the “negotiations are difficult but they are continuing”, citing an unnamed senior official.

The parties in Egypt — so far excluding the Zionist entity — have discussed a plan for a six-week truce, the exchange of dozens of captives for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, and increased aid into Gaza. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on called on Hamas to accept the plan to pause the fighting and allow in more desperately needed humanitarian aid.

“We have an opportunity for an immediate ceasefire that can bring hostages home, that can dramatically increase the amount of humanitarian assistance getting to Palestinians who so desperately need it, and then also set the conditions for an enduring resolution,” Blinken said. “It is on Hamas to make decisions about whether it is prepared to engage in that ceasefire,” the US top diplomat added as he met the Qatari prime minister in Washington.

As conditions in Gaza deteriorate and the specter of famine looms, the Zionist entity has also faced increasingly sharp rebukes from Washington. Vice President Kamala Harris expressed “deep concern about the humanitarian conditions in Gaza” during talks on Monday with war cabinet member Benny Gantz, a centrist political rival of rightwing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

American cargo planes airdropped more than 36,000 meals into Gaza Tuesday in a joint operation with Jordan, which said French and Egyptian planes also took part. The United Nations has warned famine is “almost inevitable” in the Palestinian territory. Zionist media reported, meanwhile, that the country’s negotiating team had so far boycotted the Cairo talks after Hamas had failed to provide it with a list of the living captives. The Zionist entity has said it believes 130 of the original 250 captives remain in Gaza, but that 31 have been killed.

Senior Hamas leader Bassem Naim told AFP on Monday that the group did not know “who among them are alive or dead, killed because of strikes or hunger”, and that the captives were being held by “numerous groups in multiple places”. He said that, in order for all of them to be located, “a ceasefire is necessary”. Speaking on Tuesday, Naim said a truce and hostage release deal “could happen within days”. But he added that, “if the Americans are serious about it, they have to put enough pressure” on Netanyahu and his government.

The Zionist entity’s offensive has killed 30,631 people, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry. Fighting raged on in Gaza, with Hamas officials reporting dozens of Zionist air strikes near the European Hospital in Hamad, near the main southern city of Khan Yunis. Khan Yunis residents said decomposing bodies were lying in streets lined with destroyed homes and shops. “We want to eat and live,” said Nader Abu Shanab, pointing to the rubble with blackened hands. “Take a look at our homes. How am I to blame, a single, unarmed person without any income in this impoverished country?”

The UN World Health Organization said an aid mission to two hospitals in northern Gaza had found children dying of starvation. “The lack of food resulted in the deaths of 10 children,” said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. On Tuesday, the WHO estimated at least 8,000 Gaza patients needed evacuation for treatment, which would relieve pressure on the few functioning hospitals. Tensions between the Zionist entity and the United Nations flared on Monday, with the Zionist entity recalling its ambassador. – AFP