Hamas announced that its negotiators arrived in Cairo today to be briefed on the latest round of talks aimed at reaching a truce deal in the Gaza Strip, hours after the UN warned of worsening conditions in the Palestinian enclave.

Israeli strikes in Gaza killed 50 people today, the Palestinian health authorities announced. Victims of the clashes and casualties of the past 48 hours remain on the streets, where fighting continues, or trapped under the debris, they added.

The Hamas government’s health ministry today announced a new death toll of 40,344 since the beginning of the war, with at least 69 people killed on Thursday and Friday. According to the UN, most of the dead are women and children.

Negotiations to reach a ceasefire in the war and to release the hostages still being held in Gaza have not yet yielded results.

Obstacles to agreement

Israeli negotiators were in Cairo on Thursday to meet with US mediators, who presented a “compromise proposal” aimed at bridging differences, with the main sticking points being Israel’s presence in strategic areas of the Gaza Strip, such as the strip of Philadelphia.

However, there are no signs of progress.

Hamas accuses Israel of backtracking on issues it had previously agreed to, which Israel denies. The Palestinian movement also criticizes the US for not mediating in good faith.

A continuation of the war will further worsen the living conditions of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents, almost all of whom are homeless or living in shelters amid the rubble. At the same time, malnutrition and disease are spreading, while the risks to the lives of the Israeli hostages are increasing.

Great humanitarian disaster

The UN Office of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha) pointed out on Friday that the volume of food entering Gaza in July was the smallest since October, when Israel imposed a total blockade on the enclave.

According to the same source, in July the number of acutely malnourished children in northern Gaza was three times higher than in May. In the southern part of the enclave, where access to aid is greater and conflict less intense, this number doubled.

The World Health Organization also announced Friday that a 10-month-old infant was paralyzed by polio. This is the first case of the disease in Gaza in 25 years, with concern now intensifying that an epidemic could break out due to the lack of sanitary conditions.