Four leading news organizations said Thursday their journalists in Gaza are facing the threat of starvation as the Israel-Hamas war grinds on, while top U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff was to meet with key negotiators from the Middle East for talks on the latest ceasefire proposal and the release of hostages.
“We are desperately concerned for our journalists in Gaza, who are increasingly unable to feed themselves and their families,” said a joint statement by The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse, Reuters and the BBC. “For many months, these independent journalists have been the world’s eyes and ears on the ground in Gaza. They are now facing the same dire circumstances as those they are covering.”
The statement called on Israel to allow journalists in and out of Gaza and allow adequate food supplies into the territory.
The statement came a day after more than 100 charity and human rights groups said that Israel’s blockade and ongoing military offensive are pushing Palestinians in the Gaza Strip toward starvation.
Israel’s war in Gaza, launched in response to Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack, has killed more than 59,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Its count doesn’t distinguish between militants and civilians, but the ministry says that more than half of the dead are women and children.
Here is the latest:
Major media say their journalists in Gaza are ‘increasingly unable to feed themselves’
Four leading news organizations said Thursday their journalists in Gaza are facing the threat of starvation as the Israel-Hamas war grinds on.
“We are desperately concerned for our journalists in Gaza, who are increasingly unable to feed themselves and their families,” said a joint statement by The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse, Reuters and the BBC. “For many months, these independent journalists have been the world’s eyes and ears on the ground in Gaza. They are now facing the same dire circumstances as those they are covering.”
The statement called on Israel to allow journalists in and out of Gaza and allow adequate food supplies into the territory. Israel has barred international media from entering Gaza independently throughout the 21-month war.
The deal on the table
Top U.S. Envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to head to Italy on Thursday to meet top Israeli negotiator Ron Dermer and discuss the ceasefire deal on the table, according to Israeli and U.S. officials.
For Israel, sending Dermer — a close Netanyahu confidant — to the meeting marks a show of seriousness in reaching a deal.
The deal under discussion is expected to include a 60-day ceasefire in which Hamas would release 10 living hostages and the remains of 18 others in phases in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. Aid supplies would be ramped up and the two sides would hold negotiations on a lasting truce.
Hamas earlier Thursday submitted a response to the latest ceasefire proposal which an Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media, billed as “workable.”
American Jewish groups demand an investigation into Israeli settler violence
Prominent religious Jewish leaders in the United States are calling on Israel to investigate a surge of settler violence against Palestinians and the recent killing of an American citizen by Israeli settlers in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
In a statement released Wednesday, the Central Conference of American Rabbis, the Union for Reform Judaism and the American Conference of Cantors said Israel must undertake a “full investigation” into the death of Sayfollah Musallet, a Palestinian-American from Tampa, Florida, who Palestinian authorities say was beaten to death by Israeli settlers while visiting family in the West Bank.
Violence has spiraled in the occupied West Bank since the Hamas attacks of Oct. 7, 2023, with at least 955 Palestinians killed there by Israeli fire, according to the United Nations.
The rabbis said Israel must also investigate the “growing phenomenon” of settler violence overall. They wrote that the far-right government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “seems to tolerate and even encourage violence against Palestinians.”
Israeli official says Hamas’ latest proposal is workable
An Israeli official familiar with ceasefire talks said a Hamas proposal was “workable” and that Israel was studying it. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on record.
Hamas confirmed sending a response to mediators in an statement early Thursday.
Israel said that it was reviewing Hamas’ response to the latest ceasefire proposal to potentially wind down the war. A statement from the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed receipt of the Hamas response Thursday but did not specify what it entailed.
