Live Gaza | “All parties willing to sit around the table again for a ceasefire”

There will be no ceasefire deal if Israel does not stop its military aggression on Rafah, Hamas representative Osama Hamdan warned at a press conference in Beirut, Lebanon. A delegation from Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, arrived in Cairo on Tuesday to continue discussions about a laydown of arms. “The ball is in Netanyahu’s court,” said Hamdan, who added that the latest proposal Hamas supports “means the minimum that meets the demands of our people and our opposition.”

Ceasefire talks took place in recent days, but Israel launched attacks on the border town of Rafah. The border crossing with Egypt, a vital access route for humanitarian aid to the Palestinian enclave that is already experiencing famine, is now in the hands of Israel and has also been closed.

Earlier Tuesday, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres had warned of a “humanitarian nightmare” due to the “renewed military activity in Rafah”. He called for an immediate reopening of closed border crossings and called on the parties to reach an agreement.