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Mediators await Israeli response to new truce offer

Mediators were awaiting an Israeli response Tuesday to a fresh Gaza ceasefire plan, a day after Hamas accepted the proposal and signalled its readiness for a new round of talks aimed at ending nearly two years of war.Mediator Qatar expressed guarded optimism for the new proposal, noting it was “almost identical” to an earlier version agreed to by Israel.The two foes have held on-and-off indirect negotiations throughout the war, resulting in two short truces and the releases of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, but they have ultimately failed to broker a lasting ceasefire. Qatar and Egypt, backed by the United States, have mediated the frequent rounds of shuttle diplomacy.Egypt said Monday that it and Qatar had sent the new proposal to Israel, adding “the ball is now in its court”. Qatari foreign ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari said on Tuesday that Hamas had given a “very positive response, and it truly was almost identical to what the Israeli side had previously agreed to”.”We cannot make any claims that a breakthrough has been made. But we do believe it is a positive point,” he added.According to a report in Egyptian state-linked outlet Al-Qahera News, the latest deal proposes an initial 60-day truce, a partial hostage release, the freeing of some Palestinian prisoners and provisions allowing for the entry of aid.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has yet to publicly comment on the plan, but said last week that his country would accept “an agreement in which all the hostages are released at once and according to our conditions for ending the war”.Senior Hamas official Mahmoud Mardawi said on social media that his group had “opened the door wide to the possibility of reaching an agreement, but the question remains whether Netanyahu will once again close it, as he has done in the past”. Hamas’s acceptance of the proposal comes as Netanyahu faces increasing pressure at home and abroad to end the war.On Sunday, tens of thousands took to the streets in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv to call for the end of the war and a deal to free the remaining hostages still being held captive.Of the 251 hostages taken during Hamas’s October 2023 attack that triggered the war, 49 are still in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead.The new proposal also comes after Israel’s security cabinet approved plans to conquer Gaza City and nearby refugee camps, fanning fears the new offensive will worsen the already catastrophic humanitarian crisis in the devastated territory.Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir — who has staunchly opposed ending the war — slammed the plan, warning of a “tragedy” if Netanyahu “gives in to Hamas”.- ‘Unbearable’ -Gaza’s civil defence agency reported that 31 people were killed Tuesday by Israeli strikes and fire across the territory.Agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP the situation was “very dangerous and unbearable” in the Zeitoun and Sabra neighbourhoods of Gaza City, where he said “artillery shelling continues intermittently”.The Israeli military declined to comment on specific troop movements, saying only that it was “operating to dismantle Hamas military capabilities” and took “feasible precautions to mitigate civilian harm”.Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties accessing swathes of the Palestinian territory mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defence agency or the Israeli military.Sabra resident Hussein al-Dairi, 44, said “tanks are firing shells and mortars, and drones are firing bullets and missiles” in the neighbourhood.”We heard on the news that Hamas had agreed to a truce, but the occupation is escalating the war against us, the civilians,” he added. Hamas’s October 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.Israel’s offensive has killed at least 62,064 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza which the United Nations considers reliable.

UN says record 383 aid workers killed in 2024

A record 383 aid workers were killed in 2024, the United Nations said Tuesday, branding the figures and lack of accountability a “shameful indictment” of international apathy — and warned this year’s toll was equally disturbing.The 2024 figure was up 31 percent on the year before, the UN said on World Humanitarian Day, “driven by the relentless conflicts in Gaza, where 181 humanitarian workers were killed, and in Sudan, where 60 lost their lives”.It said state actors were the most common perpetrators of the killings in 2024.The UN said most of those killed were local staff, and were either attacked in the line of duty or in their homes.Besides those killed, 308 aid workers were wounded, 125 kidnapped and 45 detained last year.”Even one attack against a humanitarian colleague is an attack on all of us and on the people we serve,” said UN aid chief Tom Fletcher.”Attacks on this scale, with zero accountability, are a shameful indictment of international inaction and apathy. “As the humanitarian community, we demand — again — that those with power and influence act for humanity, protect civilians and aid workers and hold perpetrators to account.”Provisional figures from the Aid Worker Security Database show that 265 aid workers have been killed this year, as of August 14.The UN reiterated that attacks on aid workers and operations violate international humanitarian law and damage the lifelines sustaining millions of people trapped in war and disaster zones.”Violence against aid workers is not inevitable. It must end,” said Fletcher, the UN emergency relief coordinator and under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs.Meanwhile the UN’s World Health Organization said it had verified more than 800 attacks on health care in 16 territories so far this year, with more than 1,110 health workers and patients killed and hundreds injured.”Each attack inflicts lasting harm, deprives entire communities of life-saving care when they need it the most, endangers health care providers, and weakens already strained health systems,” the WHO said.World Humanitarian Day marks the day in 2003 when UN rights chief Sergio Vieira de Mello and 21 other humanitarians were killed in the bombing of the UN headquarters in Baghdad.

UN debates future withdrawal of Lebanon peacekeeping force

The United Nations Security Council began to debate Monday a resolution drafted by France to extend the UN peacekeeping force in south Lebanon for a year with the ultimate aim to withdraw it.Israel and the United States have reportedly opposed the renewal of the force’s mandate, and it was unclear if the draft text has backing from Washington, which wields a veto on the Council.A US State Department spokesman said “we don’t comment on ongoing UN Security Council negotiations,” as talks continued on the fate of the UN Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL), deployed since 1978 to separate Lebanon and Israel.The text, first reported by Reuters, would “extend the mandate of UNIFIL until August 31, 2026” but “indicates its intention to work on a withdrawal of UNIFIL.”That would be on the condition that Lebanon’s government was the “sole provider of security in southern Lebanon… and that the parties agree on a comprehensive political arrangement.”Under a truce that ended a recent war between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah, Beirut’s army has been deploying in south Lebanon and dismantling the militant group’s infrastructure there.Lebanon has been grappling with the thorny issue of disarming Hezbollah, with the cabinet this month tasking the army with developing a plan to do so by the end of the year. The Iran-backed group has pushed back.Under the truce, Israel was meant to completely withdraw from Lebanon, though it has kept forces in several areas it deems strategic and continues to administer strikes across Lebanon. Israel’s forces have also had tense encounters with the UN blue helmets.The draft resolution under discussion also “calls for enhanced diplomatic efforts to resolve any dispute or reservation pertaining to the international border between Lebanon and Israel.”Council members were debating the draft resolution seen by AFP Monday ahead of a vote of the 15-member council on August 25 before the expiration of the force’s mandate at the end of the month.