Hamas, Qatari, US envoys in Cairo for truce talks

CAIRO, Mar 03 (AFP): Delegations from Hamas, Qatar and the United States have arrived in Egypt for "a new round of negotiations" toward a truce in the Gaza war, state-linked Al-Qahera News reported Sunday.
Cairo, Doha and Washington have mediated in weeks of talks aiming to pause the fighting in the almost five-months-old war between Israel and Hamas sparked by the October 7 attacks.
Their goal has been to secure a truce by the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan next week, but hopes have been dampened by a series of failed talks.
The negotiations have centred on a proposal to pause the fighting for six weeks and for Hamas to free hostages in return for the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails, and greater aid deliveries.
The war began on October 7 with an unprecedented Hamas attack on southern Israel that resulted in the deaths of about 1,160 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official figures.
Gaza militants also abducted 250 hostages, of whom 130 remain in captivity according to Israel, a figure that includes 31 presumed dead.
Israel's retaliatory offensive on the besieged Palestinian territory has killed 30,410 people, mostly women and children, the Gaza health ministry reported Sunday.
Israeli strike near Rafah
hospital kills 11
The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said an Israeli strike hit tents housing displaced civilians near a hospital in the southern city of Rafah Saturday, killing 11 and wounding dozens.
A paramedic was among those killed and children were wounded in the blast close to the Emirati Maternity Hospital, ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said in a statement.
"Eleven citizens were martyred and about 50 injured, including children, as a result of Israeli forces targeting tents of displaced people near the Emirati hospital," Qudra said.
The Israeli military said it was looking into the incident.
Footage posted on social media, which AFP could not independently verify, appeared to show bloodied bodies in the streets as crowds gathered, with men carrying away the wounded for treatment.
An AFP journalist saw wounded people being rushed on stretchers to the Kuwaiti Hospital, also in Rafah.
"Destruction is everywhere and there are many martyrs," said Rafah resident Belal Abu Jekhleh.
"Suddenly the glass shattered and a fire broke out. Everyone fled, some of whom were martyred and others injured. I was injured in my hands and head, and my brother was also injured."