As the Cabinet prepares to approve a plan for Rafah, Israeli officials will meet to discuss a suggested halt in Gaza

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israeli authorities would convene on Saturday night to discuss the next course of action after their most recent negotiations with the United States, Egypt, and Qatar to find a solution to halt hostilities in Gaza.

Notwithstanding numerous warnings from the international community regarding a military ground operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than half of Gaza’s population seeks refuge, Netanyahu declared that he will call a meeting of the Cabinet early the following week to “approve the operational plans for action in Rafah,” including the evacuation of civilians. Israel’s wartime objectives could only be realized “through a combination of military pressure and firm negotiations,” he said.

A senior Egyptian official stated that mediators were awaiting Israel’s official response to a draft agreement that calls for the release of up to 40 female and elderly hostages held in Gaza in exchange for up to 300 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, the majority of whom are women, children, and the elderly. Egypt, along with Qatar, serves as a mediator between Israel and the militant Hamas group.

Speaking about the discussions under cover of anonymity, the Egyptian source said that hundreds of relief trucks would be permitted daily entry into Gaza, including the northern portion of the beleaguered region, as part of the planned six-week battle halt. He indicated that throughout the standoff, talks for further releases and an ongoing cease-fire will continue between the two parties.

The unofficial deadline for negotiators is around March 10, which coincides with the beginning of the Muslim month of Ramadan.

Osama Hamdan, a political representative for Hamas, said to reporters in Beirut on Friday that while the party was not present in the negotiations, Israel had rejected its primary demands, which included ending the “aggression” and leaving Gaza.

The remains of 92 Palestinians killed in Israeli bombardments were transferred to hospitals throughout the course of the previous day, according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza, which raised the total number of deaths in the almost five months of fighting to 29,606. The overall number of injured people increased to around 70,000.

The ministry reports that two-thirds of those slain were women and children, but it does not break down the death toll by combatant and civilian categories. Israel claims that over 10,000 Hamas militants have been killed by Israeli forces, although it has not given any specifics.

At least eight persons were killed when an Israeli aircraft struck a residence in Rafah. including a kid and four women, according to health officials. At the Abu Youssef al-Najjar hospital, a correspondent with the Associated Press spotted the dead.

“Enough is enough. We should stop, or the Israelis should. Neighbor Abdul-Qader Shubeir expressed his dismay at not being able to quickly put out the fire burning the dead and said, “There should be a truce.”

fresh claims of genocide

Brazil’s president, who stirred up controversy a week ago by drawing comparisons between Israel’s military onslaught in Gaza and the Nazi Holocaust, in which six million Jews and other people died during World War II, said on Saturday that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians.

Israel has refuted accusations of genocide brought before the U.N.’s highest court and in other forums, claiming that its war is directed at the terrorist organization Hamas rather than the Palestinian people. It has blamed Hamas for killing civilians, claiming that the organization conducts operations in residential areas.

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva stated on X, previously Twitter, “What the Israeli government is doing is not war, it is genocide.” “Women and children are being killed.”

Israel summoned Brazil’s ambassador, proclaimed Lula a persona non grata, and requested an apology in reaction to his original remarks. Lula asked for meetings with Brazil’s envoy to Israel.

South Africa accused Israel of committing genocide against the Palestinian people in a historic lawsuit it filed with the International Court of Justice last month. The court ordered a preliminary injunction directing Israel to take all necessary precautions to avert deaths, property damage, and acts of genocide in Gaza.

Israel, which was established in part to provide a haven for Holocaust survivors, has charged South Africa of being a hypocrite. In order to frame the problems as essentially being about people who are persecuted in their own country, South Africa has drawn comparisons between Israel’s treatment of Palestinians in Gaza and the plight of Black South Africans under apartheid.

Hunger and illness become more widespread

Following the catastrophic Hamas onslaught on southern Israel on October 7, in which terrorists murdered around 1,200 people and kidnapped 250 more, Israel declared war. Over a hundred captives are still being held captive in Gaza.

Cease-fire requests have increased in response to the growing number of civilian deaths and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza. Famine and contagious illnesses are escalating, resulting in around 80% of Gaza’s 2.3 million inhabitants being uprooted, with over 1.4 million crammed into Rafah near Egypt’s border.

“Prices are rising at an alarming rate. It’s horrifying. There’s no way to make money. “It’s extremely crowded,” said Hassan Attwa, a Gaza City refugee now taking up residence in a tent on the beach in Mawasi, south of the city. May God bless you, no waste collection occurs at all for the rubbish. It continues to be heaped high. When it rains, it becomes a mess of clay. It’s a horrible scenario in every way possible.

Children hammered pots as part of a demonstration outside a shuttered hospital in Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza, calling for greater help to the region.

Netanyahu is under criticism at home, but he has pledged to fight until “total victory.” On Saturday night in Tel Aviv, police deployed a water cannon to scatter anti-government demonstrators; eighteen persons were taken into custody. In Jerusalem, others demonstrated.