The long-awaited truce will ultimately not come before the start of Ramadan.
The Gaza Strip, in the grip of a serious humanitarian crisis, remains under fire from the Israeli offensive against Hamas, while the Muslim month of fasting officially begins this Monday.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres sent “a special message of solidarity and support to all those suffering from the horrors in Gaza”.
“In these difficult times, the spirit of Ramadan is a beacon of hope, a reminder of our common humanity,” he said in a video on the social network X.
The failure of the negotiations
Despite new discussions in early March in Cairo, the mediating countries - the United States, Qatar and Egypt - have still not managed to reach an agreement on a truce.
A source close to the negotiations, however, told AFP on Sunday “that there would be an acceleration of diplomatic efforts in the next 10 days” in order to try to obtain an agreement during the first half of Ramadan.
But the fighting is still underway this Monday.
Dozens of Israeli bombings targeted several regions of Palestinian territory, according to Hamas authorities, including the cities of Gaza in the north and Khan Younes and Rafah in the south.
The leader of Hamas, Ismaïl Haniyeh, assured Sunday that the Islamist movement remained “open to negotiations”.
The Palestinian Islamist group is demanding in particular a definitive ceasefire and a withdrawal of Israeli troops before any agreement on the release of hostages still held in Gaza.
Israel is demanding that Hamas provide a precise list of hostages still alive, but the Palestinian movement has said it does not know who is “alive or dead” among them.
Risk of fire during Ramadan
The United States fears that the situation could become “very dangerous” particularly in East Jerusalem, where the Esplanade des Mosques, the third holiest site in Islam, is located, if fighting continues during Ramadan.
The spokesperson for the armed wing of Hamas called on Friday the Palestinians to “mobilize” and “flow” during Ramadan to the al-Aqsa mosque located on the esplanade.
In Washington, President Joe Biden, who is the subject of growing criticism in the United States for his support for Israel, in the face of the number of civilians killed in Gaza, sent a message of solidarity for the start of Ramadan.
“This year, it comes at a time of immense pain,” the US president said.
“As Muslims gather around the world in the coming days and weeks to break their fast, the suffering of the Palestinian people will be front and center for many.
It is for me,” added Joe Biden.
As custodian of two of Islam's holiest sites, King Salman of Saudi Arabia urged the international community to "assume its responsibilities to end these heinous crimes and ensure the establishment of humanitarian corridors and safe help,” he said in his message published at the start of Ramadan.
Benjamin Netanyahu defended the continuation of the offensive in Gaza on Sunday, despite increasingly frank criticism from his American ally.
Joe Biden said on MSNBC on Saturday that the Israeli Prime Minister was doing “more harm than good to Israel”.
President Biden “is wrong,” he retorted on Sunday in an interview with the Politico newspaper.
He said he pursued a policy “supported by an overwhelming majority of Israelis” and that his compatriots also support his categorical rejection of a Palestinian state.
Desperately awaited help
The population of the Gaza Strip, hit by famine, is desperate for food.
A ship loaded with 200 tonnes of food, chartered by the Spanish NGO Open Arms, was due to leave Cyprus on Sunday for the Palestinian territory but its departure has not been confirmed.
The ship is due to sail from the port of Larnaca, on the Mediterranean, approximately 370 km from the Gaza Strip.
But this Monday, he was detained for a “technical problem”.
Residents still went to the beach in the south of Gaza City in the hope of seeing him arrive.
“I have been waiting since this morning,” because Monday “the holy month of Ramadan begins and the situation is tragic,” one of them, Mohammed Harrara, told AFP.
Also read: Gaza: despite the UN's fear of "generalized famine", why is it so difficult for humanitarian aid to arrive?
Jordan, the United States, France, Belgium and Egypt took part in new humanitarian aid drops into Gaza on Sunday.
But the UN, which warns of an “almost inevitable widespread famine” in Gaza, affirms that airdrops and sending aid by sea cannot replace the land route.
The war is causing a major humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, subjected by Israel to a total siege since October 9, where the UN fears widespread famine.
“I feed my daughter water, water, just so she doesn't die.
I have no choice,” said a woman, Barak Abhar, in Gaza City, carrying her crying baby in her arms.
Humanitarian aid, controlled by Israel, only arrives in trickles in Gaza, mainly from Egypt, even though the needs are immense.