Negotiations for Gaza cease-fire coincide with gunfire in Rafah

Talks to stop the fighting between Israel and Hamas in Gaza have started again in Cairo, according to Egyptian news.

High-ranking leaders from the US, Israel, Egypt, and Qatar are having a meeting because there is a lot of pressure from different countries for Israel to stop bombing the southern Gaza city of Rafah.

Around 15 million people are crowded into this little town near the border, and there are worries that Israel might send in troops.

The leader of Israel said no to the ceasefire idea from Hamas and called it “delusional” last week.

Benjamin Netanyahu said it was possible to completely win in Gaza in a few months.

Later, he told Israeli soldiers to get ready to go into more areas on the ground, and promised to win against Hamas fighters who are hiding in Rafah.

But the UN human rights chief Volker Türk said that any attack would be very frightening and many innocent people would probably be killed.

US President Joe Biden wants to keep people in the area safe.

Rafah has been hit by a lot of bombings from Israel in the past few days, and there have been reports of people being killed and hurt.

The talks in Cairo are still happening even though Israel has said no to what Hamas wants.

The leader of the US Central Intelligence Agency William Burns, Israeli intelligence chief David Barnea, Egyptian intelligence officials, and Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani are working together.

Reuters reported that people who know about the talks said they are planning to use a three-step plan to release the rest of the Israeli hostages and have a longer break from fighting.

Qatar and Egypt, with help from the US, have been trying to make a deal between Israel and Hamas.

Israel has not been able to find 134 of the 253 people who were taken by Hamas-led gunmen during the attacks on southern Israel on 7 October. Some people who were held captive have been let go, including two men from Israel and Argentina. Unfortunately, some people did not survive the situation.

At least 1,200 people died in the attacks led by Hamas.

Israel started fighting in the Gaza Strip because of what they did. About 28,473 Palestinians have died and over 68,000 have been injured in Gaza since 7 October, according to the health ministry run by Hamas.

Over half of the 2. 3 million people in Gaza are now living in Rafah, which used to have only 250,000 people before the war between Israel and Hamas.

Many of the homeless people are living in temporary shelters or tents in dirty conditions, with little access to clean water or food.

Many countries and groups have told Israel not to start its planned attack, along with the US.

The UK Foreign Secretary, David Cameron, said that Israel should think carefully before doing anything else in Rafah.

Josep Borrell, who is in charge of the EU’s foreign policy, asked countries that support Israel to stop giving them weapons because a lot of people are being killed in Gaza.

Last week, Saudi Arabia said there would be big problems if Rafah was attacked.