As Gaza ceasefire talks stretch, death, disease & hunger rage on

CAIRO/JERUSALEM: Gaza ceasefire and hostage negotiators discussed new compromise proposals in Cairo on Saturday, seeking to bridge gaps between Israel and Hamas as the UN reported worsening humanitarian conditions, with malnutrition soaring and polio discovered.

Israeli military strikes in Gaza killed 50 people on Saturday, Palestinian health authorities said. Victims of hostilities over the past 48 hours remain lying on roads where fighting continues or trapped under rubble, the authorities said.


Two Egyptian security sources said a Hamas delegation arrived Saturday to be nearer at hand to review any proposals that emerge in the main talks between Israel and the mediators Egypt, Qatar and the US.

Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani was expected to attend. Months of on-off talks have so far failed to produce a breakthrough to end Israel's devastating military campaign in Gaza or free the remaining hostages seized by Hamas. The Egyptian sources said the new proposals include compromises on outstanding points such as how to secure key areas and the return of people to north Gaza.

However, there was no sign of any breakthrough on key sticking points, including Israel's insistence that it must retain control of the so-called Philadelphi Corridor, on the border between Gaza and Egypt.

Food supply at risk
ontinuing the war will worsen the plight of Gaza's 2.3 million people, nearly all of them homeless in tents or shelters among the ruins, with malnutrition rampant and disease spreading.

UN humanitarian agency OCHA said in a Friday update that the amount of food aid entering Gaza in July was one of the lowest since October, when Israeli imposed a full siege. OCHA said that in July the number of children with acute malnutrition in northern Gaza was four times higher than in May, while in the more accessible south, where fighting is less severe, the number more than doubled.

The World Health Organization said Friday a 10-month-old baby had been paralysed with polio, the first such case in the territory in 25 years, raising fears of a wider outbreak given the lack of proper sanitation for people living in ruins. More warfare also risks major new escalations, with Iran still weighing retaliation for the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on its territory last month.