The tension is growing.
Hamas threatened on Saturday evening to walk away from truce talks if additional aid was not quickly delivered to the Gaza Strip, including in the north of the territory threatened by famine.
“Negotiations cannot take place as long as hunger consumes the Palestinian people.
The movement intends to suspend negotiations until aid is provided to northern Gaza,” a Hamas “leader” said in a statement broadcast by al-Aqsa, the movement’s channel.
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Questioned by AFP, a senior official of the Palestinian Islamist movement requesting anonymity confirmed "that the Egyptian and Qatari mediators had been informed of Hamas's intention to suspend negotiations until aid was provided in the Gaza Strip, including the north.
The Qatari Prime Minister also confirmed that the negotiations had not been “very promising” in recent days.
“We will always remain optimistic.
We will continue to push.
We will do our best to get closer to an agreement, however, added Mohammed ben Abdelrahmane al-Thani.
Doha also considered that the truce agreement should not “be conditioned” on the release of the hostages.
Difficult talks
Complex negotiations regarding a truce in the fighting, the release of hostages held in Gaza and Palestinian prisoners imprisoned by Israel, are continuing through the mediating countries, Egypt, Qatar and the United States.
Hamas wants a “total ceasefire” and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who seeks to “annihilate” the Islamist movement, refuses at this stage Hamas's demands and speaks of a pause in the fighting rather than an end to hostilities.
The threat of large-scale famine
These statements come as the Israeli army prepares to launch an offensive on the town of Rafah, at the southern tip of the Gaza Strip, where 1.4 million Palestinians are crowded, the vast majority of people displaced by the fighting, a scenario feared by the UN.
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They also come at a time when Gaza is getting a little closer every day to “famine”, particularly in the north of the territory, according to the UN World Food Program (WFP).
A truce agreement in November allowed the release of 105 hostages, including 80 Israelis, compared to 240 Palestinian prisoners incarcerated by Israel.
According to Tel Aviv, 130 hostages are still held in Gaza, 30 of whom are believed to have died, out of around 250 people kidnapped on October 7.