Palestinian children react at the site of an Israeli strike on a house, in Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip on Monday — Reuters CAIRO, Apr 29 (Reuters/AFP): Negotiations held in Cairo to reach a ceasefire in Gaza were on the verge of a "significant breakthrough," two Egyptian security sources told Reuters on Monday.
There was no immediate comment from Israel and Hamas. Axios reporter Barak Ravid said in a brief post on X that an Israeli official denied the reported breakthrough, without giving further details.
The Egyptian sources said there was a consensus on a long-term ceasefire in the besieged enclave, yet some sticking points remain, including Hamas arms. Hamas repeatedly said it was not willing to lay down its arms, a key demand by Israel.
Earlier, Egyptian state-affiliated Al Qahera News TV reported that Egyptian intelligence chief General Hassan Mahmoud Rashad was set to meet an Israeli delegation headed by strategic affairs minister Ron Dermer on Monday in Cairo.
The sources said the ongoing talks included Egyptian and Israeli delegations. Mediators Egypt and Qatar did not report developments on the latest talks.
Meanwhile, Amnesty International on Tuesday accused Israel of committing a "live-streamed genocide" against Palestinians in Gaza by forcibly displacing most of the population and deliberately creating a humanitarian catastrophe.
In its annual report, Amnesty charged that Israel had acted with "specific intent to destroy Palestinians in Gaza, thus committing genocide". Israel has rejected accusations of "genocide" from Amnesty, other rights groups and some states in its war in Gaza.
The conflict erupted after the Palestinian militant group Hamas's deadly October 7, 2023 attacks inside Israel that resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
Militants also abducted 251 people, 58 of whom are still held in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.
Israel in response launched a relentless bombardment of the Gaza Strip and a ground operation that according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory has left at least 52,243 dead.
Over 55 killed in Israeli
strikes within 24 hours
At least 57 Palestinians were killed over the past 24 hours as a result of Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip, according to the enclave's Ministry of Health.
The ministry reported that Israeli military strikes on the Gaza Strip killed at least 57 people and injured approximately 153 others. It was also noted that the bodies of 14 previously deceased individuals, recovered from beneath the rubble, were delivered to hospitals in the region.
The Health Ministry further clarified that the death toll resulting from Israeli military operations since October 7, 2023, has risen to 52,314, with 117,792 people wounded. Since the resumption of hostilities in the region in March of this year, 2,222 individuals have been killed and 5,751 injured.
UN says over 50 Gaza aid workers
faced abuse in Israeli detention
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, on Tuesday said more than 50 of its staff in Gaza were abused and used as human shields while in Israeli military detention.
"Since the start of the war in October 2023, over 50 UNRWA staff among them teachers, doctors, social workers, have been detained and abused," UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini wrote on X.
"They have been treated in the most shocking & inhumane way. They reported being beaten + used as human shields."
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