US cuts short Hamas truce talks as hunger grips Gaza Strip
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US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff said on Thursday the US was cutting short Gaza ceasefire talks and bringing home its negotiating team from Qatar for consultations after the latest response from Hamas “showed a lack of desire to reach a ceasefire in Gaza”.
He said, “While the mediators have made a great effort, Hamas does not appear to be coordinated or acting in good faith. We will now consider alternative options to bring the hostages home and try to create a more stable environment for the people of Gaza.”
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It was unclear what “alternative options” the US was considering. A breakthrough in talks on a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas has eluded the US administration.
Meanwhile, Gaza’s health ministry said 48 Palestinians had died of malnutrition this past month.
Israel passes bill to annex West Bank
On Wednesday, Knesset, the Israeli Parliament, voted a nonbinding motion in support of annexing the West Bank, a symbolic gesture that brought the often fractured right-wing governing coalition together. The resolution, which passed 71-13, claimed that the West Bank is “an inseparable part of the Land of Israel.”
India calls for truce
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During an open debate at the UN Security Council on Wednesday, India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Parvathaneni Harishasserted that a ceasefire must be put in place, emphasising that “intermittent pauses in hostilities” were “not enough” to address the scale of challenges facing the region’s people.
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