The leader of the Hamas political wing was in Cairo on Wednesday as negotiations intensified for a cease-fire aimed at more prisoner-hostage exchanges and increased humanitarian aid for the devastated Gaza Strip.
Ismail Haniyeh was holding “critical discussions” with Egyptian officials that also involved a potential exchange of dozens of hostages held by militants in return for the release of Palestinians in Israeli prisons, Egypt Today and other outlets reported.
Earlier this week, CIA Director William Burns met in Warsaw with the head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency and the prime minister of Qatar for talks aimed at another truce. A weeklong cease-fire that ended three weeks ago resulted in the release of more than 100 militant-held hostages and more than 240 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.
Publicly, the combatants appeared unwilling to yield. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu assured Israelis on Wednesday that the military won’t stop fighting until Hamas is crushed, all hostages are released and the threat to Israeli’s security posed by Gaza is extinguished.
“Those who think we will stop are not connected to reality,” he said. “We are attacking Hamas with fire − infernal fire. Everywhere, including today. We also attack their assistants from near and far. All Hamas terrorists, from the first to the last, are mortal. They have only two options: surrender or die.”
Hamas issued a statement warning that its leaders would hold no talks involving prisoner exchanges while Israel continues its “genocidal” war but was interested in “any initiative that contributes to ending the aggression on our people and opening the crossings to bring in aid” to Gaza.
John Kirby, the Biden administration’s National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications, was noncommittal on prospects of a truce deal.
“This is something we’ve been working on since the last pause ended,” Kirby said. “So these are very serious discussions and negotiations and we hope that they lead somewhere.”
More than 100 hostages remain under militant control. All were taken on Oct. 7, when a Hamas-led attack into Israeli border communities killed 1,200 people. Within hours, Israel struck back. The assault has killed more than 19,000 Palestinians, the Gaza Health Ministry reports.
UN Security Council vote on Gaza:Resolution delayed; most US voters disapprove of Biden’s handling of war
Developments:
∎ Israel had no rocket launch alerts from Gaza for 24 straight hours, a first since the war began except for during last month’s cease-fire. The quiet skies fueled hopes that another temporary truce could be negotiated soon.
∎Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee was in Tel Aviv on Wednesday to visit with families of hostages, including US citizens. “These hostages are innocent civilians,” he said. “It’s evil to hold them. Full stop. Bring them home.”
∎ The U.N. Security Council vote on a resolutionn calling for a cease-fire to allow for the delivery of crucial humanitarian aid into Gaza was delayed until Wednesday as negotiators worked to avoid a U.S. veto. A similar resolution drew a veto less than two weeks ago.
∎ Mobile phone and internet service was down across most of Gaza again on Wednesday, adding to the difficulties of funneling humanitarian aid into the besieged enclave.
‘We know they were raped’:Chilling details of what Hamas hostages faced
Some Israeli officials critical of truce talks
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich expressed outrage at negotiations for another hostage release deal with Hamas. Smotrich was upset that Israel’s War Cabinet allowed Mossad chief David Barnea to discuss freeing high-risk Palestinian prisoners in return for Israeli hostages.
“The war cabinet should send the head of the Mossad to thwart the leaders of Hamas wherever they are and not talk to them and negotiate with them,” Smotrich said.
Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir was even tougher, saying any talks should “immediately stop” and calling for the execution of imprisoned militants for each day Israeli prisoners of war are held.
“This is not the time for pauses, this is the time for decisions!” he wrote on Twitter.
‘Their bodies tell the tale’: Hostages were sexual assaulted, Israelis say
Evidence is mounting of rape, sexual violence and mutilation of women and men during the Hamas attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7. And sexual assault was not confined to Oct. 7, two Israeli doctors say. The physicians, who have been treating released hostages, and an Israeli military official familiar with the matter confirmed to USA TODAY that some released hostages revealed they suffered violent sexual assaults in captivity. One of the doctors assessed that “many” of the released Israeli female hostages 12 to 48 − there are about 30 of them − were sexually assaulted while held by Hamas in Gaza. Read more here.
“The voices of so many of these women and girls were stolen by Hamas, but their bodies tell the tale,” said Carly Pildis, director of community engagement at the Anti-Defamation League. “Broken pelvises. Mutilated genitals. Brutalized bodies. Then we have eyewitnesses coming forward with stories of gang rape, of torture, of murder.”
− Kim Hjelmgaard
Contributing: Francesca Chambers