Israel to rejoin Gaza ceasefire negotiations in two days in Cairo amid humanitarian crisis

Israel is expected to send a delegation to Cairo within days to rejoin the Gaza ceasefire and hostage exchange talks with Hamas, according to Palestinian negotiators.

Hamas delegates have already been in Egypt for over a week, working closely with Egyptian and Qatari mediators on a US proposal that lays out a 60-day truce, which includes the release of half the surviving Israeli captives and the return of bodies of dead ones, as well as increased humanitarian access.

A Palestinian official told the Arabic news website Arabi 21, if the US applies significant pressure, "we could reach an agreement in days". The proposal was first presented by US envoy Steve Witkoff on 28 May, and it includes hostage exchange and a ceasefire protocol that would only be activated if both parties comply fully with its conditions. 

The earlier truce agreement brokered by Qatar, Egypt, and the United States in January collapsed in March after Israel refused to implement the second phase of a ceasefire plan and resumed its deadly bombing of the Gaza Strip. 

US President Donald Trump has said in recent days that a deal to end the war in Gaza may be near. On Friday, he claimed that a ceasefire could be reached "within the next week". By Sunday, he wrote on his Truth Social platform: "Finalise the Gaza deal. Bring the hostages home."

But on the ground, Israeli attacks continues. Overnight into Monday, Israeli forces struck two schools sheltering displaced Palestinians in Gaza City, according to Al Jazeera. The schools, located in the Zeitoun and Tufah neighbourhoods, had been turned into makeshift shelters amid the ongoing mass displacement across the Strip.

It comes as international attention shifts back to Gaza following a 12-day military escalation between Israel and Iran.

The confrontation briefly paused diplomatic activity surrounding Gaza, including ceasefire talks and discussions over the long-term future of the enclave, which has endured over 20 months of sustained Israeli bombardment.

Gaza's humanitarian system on the brink

Meanwhile, Gaza faces a rapidly worsening humanitarian emergency, with critically low supplies of infant formula, a collapsed water system, and disease outbreaks.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Israel's destruction of infrastructure in Gaza has caused over 19,000 cases of acute watery diarrhoea in just two weeks, along with hundreds of cases of jaundice and bloody diarrhoea.

These outbreaks result from fuel shortages which have rendered desalination plants and sewage systems non‑operational. OCHA called for urgent deliveries of fuel, clean water, sanitation, and hygiene supplies are essential to avoid the collapse of public health.

More than 56,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel in Gaza, with over 133,000 injured, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. The majority are women and children. Tens of thousands of people are missing, believed to be dead and trapped under the rubble of destroyed buildings.

Nearly the entire population has been displaced amid lingering shortages of food and fuel caused by Israel's siege of Gaza

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has warned that hundreds of newborn babies in Gaza are at risk of dying due to the complete depletion of infant formula.

In a statement on Monday, the agency said infants reliant on incubators at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, are in immediate danger. According to Al Jazeera, the UNFPA confirmed that "infant formula has completely run out in the Gaza Strip, and they are at risk of death".