Israel-Hamas conflict: United Nations moves tons of aid from US-built Gaza pier after halting work there for security reasons

If WFP trucks successfully deliver aid to warehouses in the Gaza Strip, it could influence the U.S. military’s decision to reinstall a jetty that was removed due to bad weather on Friday. U.S. officials have said they are considering reinstalling it because of the possibility that aid will not be received.

Lawlessness around humanitarian convoys is another challenge to aid distribution. Convoys have been attacked in Gaza. While most aid deliveries are made by land, restrictions around border crossings and on what items can be brought into Gaza have further harmed a population that was already dependent on humanitarian aid before the war.

Attempt to revive stalled conversations

Meanwhile, on Saturday, a senior Biden administration official said the United States had presented new language to intermediaries Egypt and Qatar aimed at trying to jump-start stalled Israel-Hamas negotiations.

The official, who requested anonymity to discuss the effort, which the White House has not yet publicly disclosed, said the revised text focuses on negotiations expected to begin between Israel and Hamas in the first phase of a three-phase deal struck by U.S. President Joe Biden at almost a month ago.

The first stage calls for a “full and complete ceasefire,” the withdrawal of Israeli forces from all densely populated areas of Gaza and the release of a number of hostages, including women, the elderly and the wounded, in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.

The proposal called on the parties to negotiate the terms of the second stage within 42 days of the first stage. Under the current proposal, Hamas could release all remaining men, both civilians and soldiers. In return, Israel could release an agreed number of Palestinian prisoners and detainees. Liberation will not occur until there is “lasting peace” and all Israeli troops withdraw from Gaza.

The new proposed language, which the official did not disclose, is intended to find a way around differences between Israel and Hamas on the parameters of the negotiations between phase one and phase two. Hamas wants the talks to focus on the number and identities of Palestinian prisoners to be released from Israeli prisons in exchange for surviving Israeli soldiers and male hostages held in Gaza, the official said. Israel wants the negotiations to be broader and include the demilitarization of Hamas-controlled territory.

Hamas political official Osama Hamdan said the group had not yet received a new ceasefire proposal from mediators. Hamas said in a statement that Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh spoke by phone with the head of Egypt’s general intelligence service to discuss the negotiations.

Fighting in Shijaiyah and thousands flee

According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, which does not distinguish between civilians and fighters in its casualty statistics, the war has killed more than 37,800 Palestinians since it began with a Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7. The ministry said the bodies of 40 people killed in Israeli attacks were transferred to local hospitals in the past 24 hours.

At least three people, including a 5-year-old girl, were killed and six others wounded in an attack in the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza. The Israeli military had no immediate comment.

In the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed and another 250 people were taken hostage.

Israeli forces have been battling Palestinian militants in the eastern Gaza city of Shijaiyah for the past week. The Israeli military reported “close combat” on Saturday. Tens of thousands of Palestinians have fled their homes, according to the United Nations.

“It’s like the first weeks of an invasion,” one resident, Mahmoud al-Masry, said of the intensity of the fighting. “Many people died. Many houses were destroyed. They hit everything that moves.

Elsewhere, thousands of Palestinians who remained in Gaza’s southernmost city, Rafah, fled Friday to Muwasi, a seaside tent camp designated a safe zone by the Israeli military. Some told the AP they evacuated as Israeli gunfire and shells came closer to where they were sheltering.

Since Israel’s incursion into the city in early May, more than 1.3 million Palestinians have fled Rafah, while aid groups warn there are no safe places to go.

As heat in Gaza has topped 32°C, many displaced people have found the tents unbearable. The territory has been without electricity since Israel cut it off as part of the war, and Israel has also stopped pumping drinking water into the enclave.

“Death is better than this. It’s a grave,” said Barawi Bakroun, who was displaced from Gaza City, while others fanned themselves with pieces of cardboard.