Gaza ceasefire talks end without agreement as Israel steps up attacks on Rafah | Israeli War on Gaza News

UNRWA official accuses Israel of putting Gaza under a ‘medieval siege’ as 110,000 Palestinians flee Rafah and aid runs out.

The Israeli military has stepped up attacks in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip and attacked Gaza City, while humanitarian aid operations across the Palestinian territory have been paralyzed as ceasefire talks ended without a deal.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) said on Friday that 110,000 Palestinians had fled Rafah. In the east of the city, Israeli troops advanced in close combat and carried out air strikes.

“People are petrified. People have feared this for a long, long time, and now it’s happening. There is constant bombardment. There is smoke on the horizon. There are people on the run,” UNRWA planning director Sam Rose told Al Jazeera from Rafah.

He said Israel was subjecting Gaza to a “medieval siege” in a “scorched earth war.”

Israeli forces seized control of the Rafah border crossing, sealing the crucial humanitarian access point.

“No aid has come to Gaza since Sunday. No help, no fuel, no supplies, nothing. And now our last reserves have really been used up,” said Rose.

“We still have a few days of flour that we can deliver. But everything else will come to a standstill very soon without fuel and without water. So the situation is really desperate,” he added.

Under heavy attacks, patients and staff were driven out of hospitals in Rafah, leaving many sick and wounded Palestinians without the opportunity to receive treatment.

“Al-Najjar Hospital is out of service. And the Kuwaiti hospital (in Rafah) is only for treating trauma and emergencies,” said Palestinian doctor Mohammed Zaqout. “We have no beds, no hospitals to refer people to, especially for critical patients.”

Further north, witnesses reported airstrikes and fighting in neighborhoods of Gaza City, targeting Zeitoun, Sabra, Nassr, Tal al-Hawa and the Shati refugee camp. At least three people were killed and five injured after Israeli strikes hit a family home in central Gaza City, according to Wafa news agency.

“Flexibility” required

The Israeli and Hamas delegations left the Egyptian capital Cairo after the latest round of ceasefire talks brokered by Qatar, the United States and Egypt. Palestinian group Hamas said on Friday that the “ball is now completely” in Israel’s hands.

Egypt’s foreign ministry said both sides needed to show “flexibility” to reach an agreement on a ceasefire and an exchange of prisoners held in Gaza for Palestinian prisoners.

Hamas said a deal would include a withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, the return of Palestinians displaced by the war and a prisoner-for-prisoner exchange, with the aim of a “permanent ceasefire.”

The group said it stood by the terms and that Israel “objected to them on several key issues.”

Hamas’s demand for an initial 12-week break in fighting was a key sticking point for Israel in this week’s ceasefire negotiations, CNN reported, citing three sources familiar with the talks.

“Fighting with your fingernails”

Israel is determined to push forward its offensive on Rafah, where 1.4 million displaced Palestinians have found refuge, despite warnings from the United Nations and its allies, including its main military and political backer, the United States.

While US President Joe Biden warned that he would halt some US arms sales to Israel if the country carried out the ground attack, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remained defiant.

“If we have to stand alone, we will stand alone. If we have to, we’ll fight with our fingernails. But we have much more than just fingernails,” he said in an interview on Thursday.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to submit a report to Congress later on Friday on Israel’s conduct in Gaza that will not conclude that the country has violated the conditions for the use of U.S. weapons. reported the US media portal Axios.

On Friday, the UN General Assembly will vote on a resolution that would grant Palestine new “rights and privileges” and call on the UN Security Council to favorably reconsider Palestine’s application for full membership.