Hopes growing for Gaza ceasefire

Efforts to hammer out a temporary truce in Gaza intensified yesterday after months of offensive that have devastated the Palestinian territory and pushed hundreds of thousands to the brink of famine.

While a UN-backed assessment said 300,000 people in Gaza's north would face famine by May without a surge of aid, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said everyone in Gaza is now facing unprecedented food insecurity.

UN human rights chief Volker Turk blamed Israel for the hunger crisis, telling reporters in Geneva they were blocking aid.

Israeli troops yesterday pressed an assault on Gaza's biggest hospital, which they allege is being used for military purposes. The military claimed that more than 50 fighters had been killed, including a top Hamas commander.

Hamas said the assault on Gaza City's Al-Shifa Hospital was a war crime.

Israel's spy chief David Barnea was in Qatar on Monday for a new round of talks with Egyptian and Qatari mediators, after they failed to secure a truce for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which began last week.

• Entire Gaza population facing food insecurity: Blinken
• Top Hamas commander 'killed' in hospital raid
• Death toll in enclave now 31,819

Qatar's foreign ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari said he was "cautiously optimistic" about the latest negotiations but it was "too early to announce any successes".

The new push for a truce follows a Hamas proposal for a six-week ceasefire, an increase in aid and the initial release of about 42 hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

During the proposed truce, Israeli forces would withdraw from "all cities and populated areas" in Gaza, according to a Hamas official.

Ansari said the opening session of talks in Doha was 'positive' and they were expecting a counter-proposal to be presented to Hamas and technical talks would continue.

Israel's relentless offensive has killed at least 31,819 people, most of them women and children, the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said.

Blinken, who will travel to Saudi Arabia and Egypt this week to try to shore up support for the temporary truce and an increase in aid, highlighted that everyone in Gaza was now suffering "severe levels of acute food insecurity".

"That's the first time an entire population has been so classified," he said during a visit to the Philippines.

On a related diplomatic track, US President Joe Biden has been attempting to put pressure on Israel to call off a threatened ground assault on the southern city of Rafah, where hundreds of thousands have sought refuge from fighting elsewhere in the territory.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted troops will be sent into Rafah to root out Hamas in the area.

The city is already under frequent bombardment by the Israeli military, with AFPTV footage showing residents picking through debris of buildings yesterday after another night of bombardment.