Talks over Gaza ceasefire and release of Israeli hostages to take place in Qatar

By Flaminia Luck

Talks about a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages held by Hamas are due to take place in Qatar later.

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In an effort to break the deadlock, Egypt has proposed a two day truce and the release of four Israeli hostages.

The war began when Hamas-led militants blew holes in Israel's border wall and stormed into southern Israel in a surprise attack on October 2023.

They killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted around 250. Around 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, around a third of whom are believed to be dead.

Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed more than 42,000 Palestinians, according to the local Health Ministry. It does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count but says more than half of those killed were women and children.

The offensive has devastated much of the impoverished coastal territory and displaced around 90% of its population, often multiple times.

Hundreds of thousands of people have crowded into squalid tent camps along the coast, and aid groups say hunger is rampant.

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