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<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/israel-hamas-war/" target="_blank" class="contextual_link">Hamas</a> officials were in Cairo on Saturday for the latest round of Gaza cease-fire talks, saying they were hopeful a deal could be reached to halt the fighting, as Israel pressed for the release of hostages still held by the group.

“We hope it will be fruitful,” Hamas official Basem Naim said of the talks. CIA Director William J. Burns was also in Cairo for the negotiations, a U.S. official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter.

It was unclear late Saturday if any progress was made. Hamas has said it wants the agreement to guarantee a permanent cease-fire, while Israel has said any long-term calm will depend on the success of the first phases of the deal.

The latest proposal, submitted to Hamas last week by Egyptian mediators, includes an initial 40-day cease-fire, during which Israeli troops will suspend combat operations and withdraw from populated areas. At the same time, Hamas would begin releasing hostages and Israel would free some Palestinian prisoners.

If the cease-fire holds, Israel would then scale up aid to the territory and discuss a longer truce period.

Some U.S. officials have warned that the proposal could be the “last chance” to avoid more fighting, as Israel vows to move ahead with plans to invade Rafah in southern Gaza if a deal falls through.

Israel’s Defense Ministry briefed more than ten humanitarian groups last week to discuss the planned operation in Rafah, according to representatives from three international aid agencies, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to freely discuss the briefing.

More than 1 million Palestinians have sought refuge there after fleeing Israeli bombardment elsewhere in the enclave.

The meeting with aid groups was held on Wednesday and chaired by Yotam Shefer, the head of foreign relations at COGAT, the defense ministry’s agency for coordinating relief in Gaza.

According to aid officials present at the meeting, Shefer did not share plans to protect civilians, but instead pointed relief groups toward an expanded “safe zone” in Mawasi, a stretch of land five miles north of central Rafah, where humanitarian workers and displaced people are expected to relocate.

“Without sufficient plans for protection, aid groups and civilians worry about the toll on civilians a Rafah invasion would bring,” said Sean Carroll, CEO of Anera, an aid organization that has been operating in Gaza since 1984.

Shefer did not provide a timeline for the incursion, but suggested aid groups would receive 48 hours’ notice to evacuate certain areas in southern Gaza.

“It was not a question of if, but when it is going to happen,” an aid official who attended the meeting said of Israel’s military operation. He spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.

COGAT did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Biden administration has said that it would not support an operation in Rafah without a credible plan to protect Palestinian civilians, including providing shelter, food and water.

Northern Gaza is already experiencing a “full-blown famine” that is “moving its way south,” Cindy McCain, executive director of the World Food Program, said in an <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/world-food-programme-director-cindy-mccain-gaza-full-blown-famine-rcna150644" target=_blank>interview with NBC News</a> that is scheduled to air Sunday.

She said her remarks were based on what her organization has seen and experienced on the ground.

“It’s horror. It’s so hard to look at and it’s so hard to hear,” she said. “I’m so hoping that we can get a cease-fire and begin to feed these people — especially in the north — in a much faster fashion.”

The United States told Qatar to evict Hamas if it continues to reject a cease-fire with Israel, in a message that <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/05/03/us-qatar-hamas-hostages-ceasefire/" target=_blank>Blinken delivered to the Qatari prime minister in April</a>. Qatar has hosted Hamas’s political leadership at the United States’ request since 2012. Qatari officials have advised Hamas officials that they should devise a backup plan for residency should they need to leave, according to a diplomat familiar with the situation, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive conversations.

Dozens of Democratic lawmakers on Friday urged <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/candidates/joe-biden-2024/" target="_blank" class="contextual_link">President Biden</a> to enforce a national security memorandum that requires U.S. arms recipients to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/03/20/israel-gaza-weapons-international-law/" target="_blank">provide assurances that they are acting in compliance with international humanitarian law</a>. “We believe that despite recent advancements, there is sufficient evidence that Israel’s restrictions on the delivery of US-backed humanitarian aid” violate U.S. law, the 88 senators argued in a letter <a href="https://deluzio.house.gov/media/press-releases/reps-deluzio-crow-lead-86-members-letter-urging-biden-enforce-us-law-and#:~:text=8034%20to%20provide%20security%20assistance,catastrophe%20in%20the%20Gaza%20Strip" target="_blank">shared by Rep. Chris Deluzio</a> (D-Pa.).

The Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court requested that outside attempts to influence the court’s activities “<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/05/03/israel-hamas-war-news-gaza-palestine/" target=_blank>cease immediately</a>,” after reports that the court is <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/04/29/icc-israel-warrants-gaza/?itid=lk_inline_manual_2" target=_blank>considering arrest warrants for Israeli leaders</a>, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, sparked fury among Israeli officials and their supporters. The court has not confirmed the reports.

Joe Snell

At least 34,654 people have been killed and 77,908 injured in Gaza since the war began, according to the <a href="https://t.me/MOHMediaGaza/5398" target=_blank>Gaza Health Ministry</a>, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but says the majority of the dead are women and children. Israel estimates that about 1,200 people were killed in Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack, including more than 300 soldiers, and says <a href="https://www.idf.il/%D7%90%D7%AA%D7%A8%D7%99-%D7%99%D7%97%D7%99%D7%93%D7%95%D7%AA/%D7%99%D7%95%D7%9E%D7%9F-%D7%94%D7%9E%D7%9C%D7%97%D7%9E%D7%94/%D7%97%D7%9C%D7%9C%D7%99-%D7%95%D7%A4%D7%A6%D7%95%D7%A2%D7%99-%D7%A6%D7%94-%D7%9C-%D7%91%D7%9E%D7%9C%D7%97%D7%9E%D7%94/" target=_blank>263</a> soldiers have been killed since the launch of its military operation in Gaza.

Susannah George, Ellen Nakashima and Shane Harris contributed to this report.

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Bryan Pietsch is a reporter on the International desk covering foreign affairs. He was previously based in Seoul, where he was the inaugural reporter in The Post's news hub there.

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