(VOVWORLD) -Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday called on Hamas to accept a ceasefire deal with Israel to spare Palestinians in the Gaza Strip the calamity of another catastrophic event.
 A building is destroyed after an Israeli air strike on Rafah on February 12, 2024. (Photo: Xinhua/VNA) |
Negotiations brokered by Qatar have not made any significant progress amid strong global opposition to Israel's military offensive against the Gazan city of Rafah.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that Israel will continue to attack Hamas in Rafah, the last refuge of Palestinians in southern Gaza, after allowing civilians to leave the area, but he didn’t specify when an attack might take place or where Gazan civilians might find refuge.
Speaking to media in Jerusalem the same day, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said an attack on Rafah, where 1.3 million people have sought refuge, would be a humanitarian disaster.
A representative of the World Health Organization warned that Israel's pending attack on Rafah would cause "an immeasurable disaster" and overwhelm a health system that’s close to collapse.
A Hamas source said a Hamas delegation has arrived in Cairo to meet Egyptian and Qatari mediators as a 3-day negotiation aimed at halting the fighting in Gaza and freeing the remaining hostages entered its second day.
A senior Egyptian official said the current negotiations have made important progress. The negotiators have nearly worked out a 6-week ceasefire agreement and are working toward a longer-term ceasefire.