Palestinian Hamas spokesman Abdel Rahman Shadid announced the start of a new round of ceasefire talks in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, expressing hope for a positive outcome.
Shadid stressed that the movement is taking these talks seriously and expects significant progress to allow for full discussions on the next stage of the peace agreement.
On March 9, Taher al-Nunu, spokesman for the politburo of the Palestinian radical Hamas movement, said that negotiations with the US will take place before the end of the first phase of the Gaza Strip truce.
On January 19, 2025, a ceasefire went into effect in the Gaza Strip. The truce was to last for 42 days. During this time, 33 hostages were to be returned to Israel, while the Jewish state undertook to release about 1,000 Palestinian prisoners. On March 2, the first phase of the truce ended, and Israel and Hamas have not yet been able to agree on the second.
Meanwhile, Israeli fire killed eight Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and three others in the occupied West Bank in the past 24 hours, Palestinian officials said on Tuesday.
Israel has been trying to force Hamas to accept its plan by cutting off electricity, food, medicine and other goods to more than 2 million Palestinians living in Gaza. The United Nations and other humanitarian aid organisations say Israel is violating international law.
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said the UN children’s agency UNICEF warns that water shortages have reached critical levels and only one in 10 people in Gaza can access safe drinking water.
