����ֱ��

CAIRO: Peace talks between Israel and Hamas were resuming at an Egyptian resort city on Tuesday, the two-year anniversary of the militant group’s surprise attack on Israel that triggered the bloody conflict that has seen tens of thousands of Palestinians killed in Gaza.
The second day of indirect negotiations in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh are focused on a plan proposed by US President Donald Trump last week that aims to bring about an end to the war in Gaza.
After several hours of talks Monday, an Egyptian official with knowledge of the discussions said the parties agreed on most of the first-phase terms, which include the release of hostages and establishing a ceasefire. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the private meetings.
The plan has received widespread international backing and Trump told reporters on Monday that he thought there was a “really good chance” of a “lasting deal.”
“This is beyond Gaza,” he said. “Gaza is a big deal, but this is really peace in the Middle East.”
Trump’s peace plan
Many uncertainties remain, however, including the demand that Hamas disarm and the future governance of Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has long said Hamas must surrender and disarm, but Hamas has not yet commented on whether it would be willing to.
The plan envisions Israel withdrawing its troops from Gaza after Hamas disarms, and an international security force being put in place. The territory would then be placed under international governance, with Trump and former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair overseeing it.
The devastating war that has ensued has upended global politics, resulted in Israel killing 67,160 Palestinians and wounding nearly 170,000, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, and has left the Gaza Strip in ruins.
The ministry does not differentiate between civilians and combatants, but says more than half of the deaths were women and children. The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government, and the United Nations and many independent experts consider its figures to be the most reliable estimate of wartime casualties.
A growing number of experts, including those commissioned by a UN body, have said Israel’s offensive in the Gaza Strip amounts to genocide — an accusation Israel vehemently denies.
On Tuesday at the area attacked by Hamas two years ago, thousands of Israelis gathered to pay tribute to their loved ones who were killed and kidnapped. An explosion from Gaza echoed across the fields as they reflected, following the launch of a rocket in northern Gaza. No damage or injuries were reported.
In Gaza City, meantime, residents said Israeli attacks continued until the early hours of the morning on Tuesday, though there were no immediate reports of casualties.
A promise of humanitarian relief
Ahead of the resumption of talks on Tuesday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for an end to the hostilities, which have created “a humanitarian catastrophe on a scale that defied comprehension.”
“The recent proposal by US President Donald J. Trump presents an opportunity that must be seized to bring this tragic conflict to an end,” Guterres said.
“A permanent ceasefire and a credible political process are essential to prevent further bloodshed and pave the way for peace. International law must be respected.”
Mediators from Qatar and Egypt were facilitating the talks, meeting first on Monday with members of the delegation from Hamas, then later with those from Israel.
Israel’s delegation included Gal Hirsch, coordinator for the hostages and the missing from Netanyahu’s office, while Hamas representatives included Khalil Al-Hayya, the group’s top negotiator.
White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said Monday that US envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner were on hand to talk part in the talks and keep the president apprised.
She did not comment on a specific deadline for concluding the talks, but said it is important “that we get this done quickly.”
Part of the plan is to surge humanitarian aid into Gaza, where more than two million Palestinian are facing hunger and in some areas famine.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the organization was poised and ready to act.
“The machinery is cranked up and ready to go as soon as we get the green light,” Dujarric said. “There are many thousands of metric tons in the pipeline of goods ready to enter” from Jordan, the Israeli port of Ashdod and elsewhere, he added.

JERUSALEM: Numbers alone cannot capture the toll the Israel-Hamas war has taken on the Gaza Strip.
But they can help us understand how thoroughly the conflict has upended the lives of 2.1 million Palestinians living in the territory and decimated the territory’s 365 square kilometers (140 square miles).
Out of every 10 people, one has been killed or injured in an Israeli strike. Nine are displaced. At least three have not eaten for days. Out of every 100 children, four have lost either one or both parents. Out of every 10 buildings that stood in Gaza prewar, eight are either damaged or flattened. Out of every 10 homes, nine are wrecked. Out of every 10 acres of cropland, eight are razed (more than three out of every four hectares).
The war began when Hamas militants launched a surprise attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mainly civilians, and taking 251 hostages back to Gaza.
In response, Israeli leaders promised a punishing offensive on the strip to annihilate Hamas and free the hostages.
Here’s a closer look at the devastation that followed, by the numbers.
Roughly 11 percent of Gaza’s population has been killed or injured
Cemeteries are overflowing. Mass graves dot the strip. Israeli airstrikes have killed entire families in their homes. More than 2,000 people seeking food have been killed, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. In some cases Israel has acknowledged firing warning shots at chaotic crowds attempting to obtain desperately needed aid.
Israeli attacks on health care facilities and limitations on the entry of medical supplies have left overwhelmed doctors to treat advanced burn victims with rudimentary equipment. Israel says it strikes hospitals because Hamas operates in them and uses them as command centers, though it has offered limited evidence. Hamas security personnel have been seen in hospitals and have kept some areas inaccessible. Israel has said restrictions on imports are needed to prevent Hamas from obtaining arms.
The war is the deadliest conflict for journalists, health workers and UN aid workers in history, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists and the UN The British Medical Journal says the prevalence of patients with injuries from explosives in Gaza compares to data on injured US combat forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In all, Israel’s campaign has killed more than 67,000 Palestinians and wounded nearly 170,000, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. More than 40,000 of those wounded have life-altering injuries, according to the World Health Organization.
The death toll does not include the thousands of people believed buried under the rubble. The ministry — part of the Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals — does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count. Its figures are seen as a reliable estimate by the UN and many independent experts.
Israel blames Hamas for the high civilian toll, saying the group’s presence in residential areas has turned the population into human shields. Still, its strikes often hit homes, killing many inside with no word of who the target was.
Nearly the entire population is displaced and thousands are missing
Countless Palestinian families have fled the length of Gaza and back, forced to move every few months to dodge successive Israeli offensives. Many have been displaced multiple times, moving between apartments and makeshift tent camps as they try to survive. Squalid tent cities now sprawl across much of Gaza’s south.
Displacements have separated families. Heavy bombardment has left thousands buried under the rubble. Troops round up and detain men, from dozens to several hundreds at a time, searching for any they suspect of Hamas ties. The result is families split apart.
Israel occupies the vast majority of Gaza
Israel’s military has gained control of the vast majority of Gaza, pushing most of the Palestinian population to a small zone along the southern coast. Under Israeli control, Gaza’s land has been transformed. Forces have flattened or bulldozed entire neighborhoods of Gaza City and small agricultural towns dotting the border, carved new roads across the territory and built up new military posts.
Bombardment has carpeted the Gaza Strip in a blanket of rubble roughly 12 times the size of the Great Pyramid of Giza. Using imagery of Gaza from space, the UN’s Satellite Center says that at least 102,067 buildings have been destroyed. In the wreckage lie the ruins of grade schools and universities, medical clinics and mosques, greenhouses and family homes.
At least 30 percent of people go days without eating
Hundreds of Palestinians crowd charity kitchens jostling for a bowl of lentils. Babies are so emaciated they weigh less than at birth. After months of warnings from aid groups, the world’s leading authority on food crises said in August that Gaza City had fallen into famine. Israel disputes the determination.
Towns have been leveled
Towns scattered across the strip, where Palestinian farmers used to plant strawberries and watermelons, wheat and cereals, are now emptied and flattened. Between May and October 2025, Israeli bombardment and demolitions virtually erased the town of Khuzaa, whose rows of wheat and other cereals made it a breadbasket for the city of Khan Younis.
With the war entering its third year, Israel has launched an offensive to take over Gaza City and kill the Hamas militants it says are hiding there.
Israel says it also aims to free the 48 hostages who remain in Gaza, about 20 of whom the government believes are alive. Since the war began, 465 Israeli soldiers have been killed in Gaza.
A new American peace plan is on the table, even as Israeli tanks and ground troops threaten the heart of Gaza City.