Gaza Truce Talks On, After Aid Worker Death Outcry

Gaza Strip, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 7th Apr, 2024) American, Israeli and Hamas negotiators are expected in Cairo over the weekend in a renewed push for a ceasefire and hostage release deal in a war that reaches the half-year mark on Sunday.

Egypt's Al-Qahera news said CIA Director Bill Burns and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani would join Egyptian mediators for Sunday's indirect talks between the Israeli and Hamas delegations.

Ahead of the talks Hamas, confirmed its core demands -- a complete ceasefire in Gaza and withdrawal of Israeli forces.

The ceasefire attempt comes after Israel's military made a rare admission of wrongdoing and said it was firing two officers over the killing of seven aid workers in Gaza where humanitarians say famine is imminent.

The admission did not quell calls for an independent probe, however.

The deaths of the workers from US-based World Central Kitchen (WCK) on April 1 led to a tense call between US President Joe Biden and Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Biden urged an "immediate ceasefire" and for the first time hinted at conditioning US support for Israel on curtailing the killing of civilians and improving humanitarian conditions.

President Isaac Herzog, whose post is largely ceremonial, said Israel was approaching the half-year mark in a "bloody and difficult war."

"Tomorrow at 6:29 am (0329 GMT), we mark six months since the cruel terror attack and the horrific massacre," he said.