As Israel is warned by the international community not to go ahead with an assault on Rafah, the Gaza Strip town where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are sheltering, negotiations for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas are still underway.
Israeli media reported early on Wednesday that negotiators had returned from talks in Cairo without any concrete progress being made. However, subsequent reports said that the talks will be continuing at a lower level.
The discussions are said to be focused on the conditions for trading Israeli hostages for the release of Palestinian prisoners in Israel, with the main bone of contention being the number of Palestinians to be released per hostage returned.
While Israel’s military maintains its focus on Rafah, it said its troops are every day recovering weapons, grenades and combat documents belonging to Hamas militants.
However, Israel is now under heavier international pressure than at any point in the current conflict, with even core allies concerned about the threat the Rafah operation poses to hundreds of thousands of Gazans who were told to flee there for their safety.
A recent air raid on the area killed at least 74 Palestinians, according to local officials, offering a glimpse of what a full-blown ground advance might look like.
Speaking in New York, UN Secretary General António Guterres has predicted that an Israeli ground operation could have devastating consequences.
“My sincere hope is that negotiations for the release of hostages and some form of cessation of hostilities to be successful to avoid an all out offensive over Rafah, where the core of the humanitarian system is located and that would have devastating consequences,” he said.
While Israel admits Palestinian civilians are trying to survive in appalling conditions, it blames Hamas for bringing war to Gaza. The military claims that if it does mount a ground offensive in Rafah it will evacuate civilians, but so far, no plan has been provided.
Even as the fate of Rafah hangs in the balance, a refugee camp in central Gaza was reportedly bombed and reduced to rubble.
