No progress in Gaza ceasefire talks with Israel: Hamas official

GAZA: Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan said on Saturday there has been no progress being made in hostage swap and ceasefire talks with Israel over the Gaza conflict.

He condemned the Israeli blockade against the Gaza Strip, and called for more humanitarian aid deliveries to the coastal enclave.

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Hamas is ready to deal positively with any proposal that secures a permanent ceasefire and Israel’s full withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, Hamdan told a news conference in Beirut.

Nearly nine months into the Israel-Hamas war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine.

Over 37,800 Palestinians have been killed and 86,800 others wounded since the ongoing Palestinian-Israeli conflict broke out in early October last year, Gaza-based health authorities said in a statement on Saturday.

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The Israeli military on Saturday announced the deaths of two soldiers killed in combat in northern Gaza, as Israeli forces pressed on with an offensive in the Shejaia neighborhood in Gaza City.

Israel has lost 670 soldiers in Gaza since October 7, according to Israeli tallies.