Vice President Kamala Harris speaks on the 59th commemoration of the Bloody Sunday Selma bridge crossing on Sunday in Selma, Ala. Harris known as for an “immediate ceasefire” in Gaza in her remarks however reiterated that Israel has “a right to defend itself.”

Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images

conceal caption

toggle caption

Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks on the 59th commemoration of the Bloody Sunday Selma bridge crossing on Sunday in Selma, Ala. Harris known as for an “immediate ceasefire” in Gaza in her remarks however reiterated that Israel has “a right to defend itself.”

Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images

TEL AVIV, Israel – Vice President Kamala Harris is scheduled to fulfill with Benny Gantz, a member of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s warfare cupboard, as strain builds for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas within the warfare in Gaza.

Monday’s assembly in Washington, D.C., comes at some point after Harris called for an immediate, temporary cease-fire in Gaza to facilitate an alternate of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners and detainees. Harris is anticipated to proceed urgent Israel to pause the combating and permit extra humanitarian support into Gaza.

As Harris and Gantz meet in Washington, mediators can even be convening in Egypt to debate the outlines of a possible settlement.

According to an Egyptian supply near the talks, a Hamas delegation shall be in Cairo till Tuesday, assembly with mediators from Egypt and Qatar to dealer a deal that will embody a 6-week cease-fire in addition to the alternate of dozens of Israeli hostages taken captive by Hamas for a number of hundred Palestinian prisoners and detainees held by Israel.

The supply instructed NPR that Hamas is demanding momentary housing in Gaza till reconstruction is accomplished within the enclave, the place at least 60% of homes have been destroyed by the warfare. They additionally desire a withdrawal of Israeli troops, and for Palestinians who’ve been displaced from northern Gaza to have the ability to return.

In the talks, an Israeli official tells NPR, Israel is demanding to know what number of hostages are nonetheless alive.

The objective has been to safe a cease-fire deal previous to the beginning of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan — which begins round March 10 — so as to permit extra humanitarian support into Gaza.

Family and supporters of the hostages held captive by Hamas in Gaza full the ultimate leg of a four-day march from the Israel-Gaza border to Jerusalem, to demand the fast launch of all hostages, in Jerusalem, on Saturday.

Mahmoud Illean/AP

conceal caption

toggle caption

Mahmoud Illean/AP

Family and supporters of the hostages held captive by Hamas in Gaza full the ultimate leg of a four-day march from the Israel-Gaza border to Jerusalem, to demand the fast launch of all hostages, in Jerusalem, on Saturday.

Mahmoud Illean/AP

Gantz has already issued an ultimatum to Hamas: Return the hostages by the beginning of Ramadan, or “the fighting will continue everywhere, to include the Rafah area.”

Rafah, the southernmost metropolis in Gaza, is the place over one million displaced Palestinians have been sheltering for weeks, and the place Israel says a variety of Hamas battalions stay. The Israeli navy has been finishing up sporadic strikes there, together with a strike on Saturday afternoon that killed 11 folks and wounded not less than 50 others, in response to the Gaza Health Ministry. In a separate strike in jap Rafah on Saturday, 14 members of the identical household have been killed, and as many as 10 others have been trapped below rubble.

According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), “over 600,000 children are trapped in Rafah. There is nowhere safe for them to go.”

Previous negotiations in Cairo and in Doha, Qatar, failed to realize any breakthroughs, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calling Hamas calls for “delusional.”

The present framework into account in Cairo relies on a proposal mentioned by mediators in Paris final month.

If in the end agreed upon, the deal could be the second cease-fire deal because the begin of the battle on Oct. 7. That’s when Hamas led an assault on Israel, killing 1,200 folks and kidnapping 240, in response to Israeli officers. The Israeli response has killed greater than 30,500 Palestinians, in response to the Gaza Ministry of Health.

In the primary – and to this point, solely – cease-fire, more than 100 hostages were released in exchange for nearly 250 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

Children dying “at alarming rate”

Hamas can be pushing for the most important quantity of support attainable to achieve folks in Gaza, in response to an Egyptian sources near the negotiations.

The humanitarian scenario is Gaza is spiraling, with a least 1 / 4 of the enclave’s 2.2 million residents now “one step away from famine,” in response to the U.N. Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. On Friday, the World Health Organization stated it recorded the tenth baby in Gaza to have starved to dying.

WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier said that the precise variety of baby deaths from hunger “can unfortunately be expected to be higher.”

Adele Khodr, regional director for the Middle East and North Africa at UNICEF, known as for “entry points that would allow us to bring aid in from all possible crossings, including to northern Gaza; and security assurances and unimpeded passage to distribute aid, at scale, across Gaza, with no denials, delays and access impediments.”

Safety for the distribution of humanitarian support has remained a relentless concern, particularly in northern Gaza.

Children are tended to after a strike outdoors the Emirati Maternity Hospital, in Rafah, on March 2, 2024.

Anas Baba /NPR

conceal caption

toggle caption

Anas Baba /NPR

Children are tended to after a strike outdoors the Emirati Maternity Hospital, in Rafah, on March 2, 2024.

Anas Baba /NPR

Palestinians say Israeli troopers fired on them once they tried to get meals from an support convoy in Gaza City on Thursday, with the taking pictures and surrounding chaos leading to not less than 115 deaths. The Israeli navy on Sunday launched a press release saying a lot of the civilians died in a stampede and that Israeli troopers solely “responded” to civilians approaching them.

Several nations have resorted to airdropping aid into Gaza, together with, most not too long ago, the U.S., which on Saturday, dropped over 38,000 meals in a joint operation with the Jordanian air power.

Gantz’s go to reveals tensions

Israeli media reports that Gantz’s go to to Washington was not pre-authorized by the prime minister’s workplace, and that Netanyahu has requested that the Israeli embassy decline to facilitate Gantz’s journey and to not permit any embassy workers to attend any of his conferences. There are additionally reports of a heated telephone dialog, during which Netanyahu reportedly instructed Gantz that Israel has “only one prime minister.”

Minister Gantz is chairman of the National Unity Party – which isn’t a part of the hard-line coalition maintaining Netanyahu in energy.

The prime minister’s workplace declined to answer a request for remark about Gantz’s go to.

Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz speaks throughout a press convention along with his Greek counterpart in Athens, Greece, in November 2022. Gantz was due in Washington, D.C., on Monday for a gathering with Vice President Kamala Harris.

Michael Varaklas/AP

conceal caption

toggle caption

Michael Varaklas/AP

Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz speaks throughout a press convention along with his Greek counterpart in Athens, Greece, in November 2022. Gantz was due in Washington, D.C., on Monday for a gathering with Vice President Kamala Harris.

Michael Varaklas/AP

However, in a Facebook post, Knesset member Hili Tropper, a member of the National Unity Party, wrote, “There is indeed one prime minister for Israel…but we also have one Israel and anyone who can help for its success in the war must do so… Now is the time to put the ego aside, put political calculations aside, and concentrate on partnership for the benefit of the State of Israel.”

Even earlier than the warfare, there was a rift between Netanyahu and Gantz over a variety of points – from Israel’s navy operations in Gaza as to whether ultra-Orthodox men ought to be compelled into navy service.

Gantz’s go to to Washington comes amid continued demonstrations towards Netanyahu over the warfare in Gaza and requires early elections which are rising louder on the streets.

Regular anti-government protests are being held by Israelis who’re angry over the truth that he has not been capable of free the remaining 134 hostages nonetheless being held in captivity.

In a speech on Thursday evening, Netanyahu, who’s holding on to energy with a slim majority within the Knesset, dismissed the decision for early elections as a tactic of “extremists,” and known as for unity within the nation.