Gaza war enters seventh month as truce negotiators expected in Cairo

PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES — The war between Israel and Hamas entered its seventh month on Sunday as US and other negotiators were expected to join the protagonists in Cairo in a renewed push for a ceasefire and hostage release deal.

Egypt's Al-Qahera News said CIA Director Bill Burns and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani would join Egyptian mediators for Sunday's indirect talks between the Israeli and Hamas delegations.

Hamas confirmed ahead of the talks that its core demands were a complete ceasefire in Gaza and the withdrawal of Israeli forces.

The ceasefire attempt comes after Israel's military made a rare admission of wrongdoing and said it was firing two officers over the killing of seven aid workers in Gaza, where humanitarians say famine is imminent.

The admission over the deaths of the workers from US-based World Central Kitchen (WCK) on April 1 did not quell calls for an independent probe.

"It's been six months of targeting anything it seems moves," Spanish-American celebrity chef and WCK founder Jose Andres told ABC News.

"This really at this point seems it's a war against humanity itself."

The deaths of the aid workers led to a tense call between US President Joe Biden and Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Biden urged an "immediate ceasefire" and for the first time hinted at making US support for Israel conditional on curtailing the killing of civilians and improving humanitarian conditions.

The bloodiest-ever Gaza war began on October 7 with an unprecedented attack from Gaza by Hamas militants resulting in the death of 1,170 people, mostly civilians, Israeli figures show.

Palestinian militants also took around 250 Israeli and foreign hostages, about 130 of whom remain in Gaza, including more than 30 the military says are dead.

The Israeli military announced on Sunday another four of its troops had been killed in Gaza, bringing the toll to 260 since the beginning of ground operations in late October.

President Isaac Herzog, whose post is largely ceremonial, said Israel was approaching the half-year mark in a "bloody and difficult war" that began with "the cruel terror attack and the horrific massacre".

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