Israel To Return To Cease-Fire Negotiations, But Strikes On Gaza And Syria Continue

Israel said it will return to the negotiating table for cease-fire talks with Hamas in a statement on Friday from the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Several rounds of negotiations have already failed, with Israel calling the demands of Hamas “delusional.”

Proposals by Hamas have demanded that for the release of all remaining Israeli hostages — dead and alive — Israel must fully withdraw from Gaza and open borders to allow for aid and reconstruction, in addition to the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held in Israel.

On Friday, Netanyahu — who has come under increasing pressure, domestically and from world leaders, to address the hostage situation — said he had authorized an Israeli delegation to attend talks with negotiators in Qatar and Egypt.

Netanyahu’s office issued at statement that said new talks on a Gaza cease-fire and hostage release would take place in Doha and Cairo “in the coming days, with guidelines for moving forward in the negotiations.”

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UN Resolution Demands Cease-Fire

Earlier this week, the United Nations Security Council voted for a resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire and the release of all hostages.

The International Court of Justice — the UN’s highest legal authority — on Thursday ordered Israel to allow aid into Gaza to stop a famine from taking hold among the millions of displaced civilians.

Phillippe Lazzarini, the commissioner general of the UN’s refugee aid arm UNRWA, said on X: “The order calls on the State of Israel to co-operate with the United Nations to facilitate the delivery of urgently needed humanitarian aid to Gaza.”

He added: “The conditions of over two million people are worsening. Gaza is becoming an impossible place for a dignified life. In under six months, where people did not know hunger and were largely healthy, famine thresholds are unprecedented in time and speed.”

Also on Thursday, an Israeli air strike on Rafah was reported to have killed at least 12 people after a residential building in the city was hit, including two children and four women, according to the head of the nursing department at the city’s European Hospital.

Israel is still preparing for a ground assault on the city, close to the border with Egypt, as it says it is the last stronghold of Hamas within the Gaza Strip.

Israel Strikes Aleppo, Syria

It was also reported on Friday that Israeli air strikes on Syria’s northern province of Aleppo killed dozens of people, including civilians and military personnel, with Reuters reporting around 38 deaths.

If the numbers are correct, it would be Israel’s deadliest strike on Syria, where it is targeting Hezbollah militia, since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war.

Israel in recent months has escalated its regional hostilities against Iran-backed militia groups, most notably against Hezbollah with strikes on Syrian and Lebanon.

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