HAMAS LEADER IN CAIRO FOR TALKS AS PRESSURE MOUNTS FOR A CEASEFIRE IN THE GAZA-ISRAEL WAR

 The leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, arrives in Cairo for talks on a fresh ceasefire in Gaza. Israeli President Isaac Herzog has said his country was ready for another humanitarian pause

1. Efforts to get a United Nations Security Council ceasefire motion are set to resume after Tuesday's vote was delayed
2. The US says it is working with other members on the text, but it has vetoed previous resolutions
3. Aid agencies have voiced anger and frustration over the continued plight of civilians in Gaza ahead of the vote
4. Hamas broke through Israel's heavily guarded perimeter on 7 October, killing 1,200 people and taking 240 hostages - some of whom were released during a brief truce
5. Nearly 20,000 people are now reported to have been killed and more than 52,000 injured in Gaza since the start of the war.

6. IDF attacks several Hezbollah targets in Lebanon

   

   ReutersCopyright: Reuters

   Smoke rises following what the Israeli military says is an Israeli strike on Hezbollah targets in LebanonImage caption: Smoke rises following what the Israeli military says is an Israeli strike on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon

   Away from the conflict in Gaza, the Israel Defence Forces says it's attacked a series of targets belonging to the Lebanese group Hezbollah - an Iran-backed Shia Islamist group that wields considerable military and political power in Lebanon.

   It is considered a terrorist organisation by Israel, UK, the US and others.

   The IDF says its air force struck "several terrorist infrastructures alongside military sites where the organisation's terrorists operated".

   Since Israel launched its offensive on Gaza following Hamas's attack on 7 October, Hezbollah has regularly carried out rocket and drone attacks from southern Lebanon, some aimed at military targets, others fired more indiscriminately into northern Israel.

   Israel has evacuated thousands of civilians from the area because of escalating hostilities with Hezbollah militants.

7. Red Crescent says Jabalia ambulance depot besieged
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   The Palestinian Red Crescent (PRCS) says its ambulance depot in Jabalia, northern Gaza, has been surrounded and besieged by Israeli forces.

   It said the depot had been besieged from all directions and there are 127 people inside the centre including workers, displaced persons and injured people.

   The IDF has yet to comment on the claims.

   Jabalia has been the site of intense fighting recently. On Sunday, Hamas officials said at least 110 Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes on Jabalia, where Israel says it's targeting "terrorist" infrastructure.

9. 'People came as body parts. They were unrecognisable' - Khan Younis doctor

   Yolande Knell

   Middle East correspondent, in Jerusalem

   

   ReutersCopyright: Reuters

   Medical staff paid tribute to Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes, outside Nasser hospitalImage caption: Medical staff paid tribute to Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes, outside Nasser hospital

   Residents of the southern city of Khan Younis at the heart of Israel’s southern offensive in Gaza, have told me fierce fighting continued through the night and is still ongoing.

   “There’s been violent shelling and clashes,” says Amer, who has moved to the Nasser Hospital for shelter.

   “There’s been a noticeable advance of Israeli tanks nearby.”

   Medics at the hospital report some 15 members of the Hamdan family were killed and 20 wounded in western Khan Younis yesterday evening.

   A few hours later, 10 people were injured in an air strike at the home of the Qudra family. Since dawn, members of the Wafi and Wadi families have been killed also in the west of the city.

   “People came as body parts. They were unrecognisable,” Dr Mohammed Abu Lahiya tells me.

   Quote Message: Some of the casualties that arrived this morning were untreatable. Other patients have been dying when we’re trying to perform surgeries because of the lack of medical supplies. from Dr Mohammed Abu Lahiya Shifa Medical Complex director

   Some of the casualties that arrived this morning were untreatable. Other patients have been dying when we’re trying to perform surgeries because of the lack of medical supplies.

   Dr Mohammed Abu LahiyaShifa Medical Complex director

   "We have little anaesthetic. We ran out of blood and the poor phone lines mean we can’t even call other doctors when we need them to come to help.

   "The route to the hospital is becoming more dangerous."

10. NGO director says UN vote will not stop Israel's war goals

    The Middle East director at NGO International Communities Organisation says if Israel wants all hostages held by Hamas freed, any deal will most likely have to involve the return of all Palestinian prisoners.

    Gershon Baskin negotiated the release of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in return for over 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in 2011.

    He tells the BBC News channel that a UN vote on a ceasefire resolution - which was delayed on Tuesday - would not “have much impact” on the ground.

    He says this is because Israel will continue bombing Gaza until “its war goals are met”, which he defines as “dismantling Hamas’s ability to rule the Gaza Strip”.

    He believes Israel's openness to a ceasefire is due to “local pressure” from the families of hostages.

    During a six-day ceasefire at the end of November, 105 hostages were released in exchange for Palestinians held in Israeli jails.

    Quote Message: If Israel wants to return all the hostages, the likely deal that would work with Hamas is the release of all the Palestinian prisoners in Israel, which today numbers more than 7,600 people."

    If Israel wants to return all the hostages, the likely deal that would work with Hamas is the release of all the Palestinian prisoners in Israel, which today numbers more than 7,600 people."

    FULL REPORTS AND MANY MORE UPDATES AT:  Israel-Gaza live news: Hamas leader in Cairo for talks as pressure for truce mounts - BBC News

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