A new round of talks aimed at reaching a truce between Israel and Hamas is taking place in Egypt today, Sunday, amid ongoing intense Israeli military operations in the sector, which is facing a growing humanitarian crisis nearly five months after the outbreak of the war.

Representatives from the United States, Qatar, and Hamas have arrived in Cairo to resume talks on the truce, according to an Egyptian television channel.

The proposal put forward by the mediating countries calls for a six-week ceasefire and the release of 42 hostages held in Gaza, in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

Mediators hope an agreement on the truce will be reached before the start of Ramadan on March 10 or 11.

The United States said a ceasefire agreement is "already on the table" and that Israel has agreed to it, with only Hamas's approval missing.

However, the warring parties have provided little information about the progress of the agreement.

After the arrival of the Hamas delegation, a senior Palestinian official told Reuters that they have not yet come close to finalizing the agreement. No official confirmation has come from the Israeli side, even regarding the attendance of the delegation it represents.

A senior source said Israel may not send any delegation to Cairo unless Hamas first provides a complete list of the names of hostages still alive, a demand that a Palestinian source said Hamas rejects so far as premature.

Nevertheless, a U.S. official told journalists, "The path to a ceasefire literally right now is clear and direct. There is an agreement on the table. There is a framework agreement."

Reaching an agreement would lead to the first long-term truce in the war that erupted five months ago and has only paused for one week in November, with dozens of hostages held by Hamas released in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian detainees.

Assistance to the besieged Gaza Strip will also be intensified to save the lives of Palestinians pushed to the brink of famine.

Fighting will halt in time to avoid a large-scale planned Israeli offensive on Rafah, where more than half of Gaza’s 2.3 million population are trapped near the sector's border fence.

Israeli forces will withdraw from some areas and allow Gaza residents to return to homes they fled earlier due to the war.

However, the agreement will not meet Hamas's primary demand for a permanent end to the war, and will leave the fate of more than half of the remaining hostages, including Israeli men of fighting age who are not included in the agreement, which is limited to the release of hostages who are women, children, the elderly, and the wounded.

Egyptian mediators propose to set these issues aside for now, with guarantees to resolve them in later stages. A Hamas source told Reuters that the movement still insists on reaching a "comprehensive agreement."

A source in Hamas, listed as a terrorist organization by several countries, said an agreement is possible if Israel "responds" to the movement’s demands.

He explained: "Today (Sunday) marks the start of a negotiation round in Cairo... and if Israel responds, the way will be paved for an agreement within the next 24 to 48 hours."

Meanwhile, the death toll continues to rise, with dozens killed late Saturday into Sunday due to Israeli bombardments targeting various parts of the sector, according to Hamas’s Ministry of Health, including members of one family in Rafah city. The Israeli army confirmed intensifying its operations in Khan Yunis, the largest city in southern Gaza.

The 2.4 million residents of the Gaza Strip face catastrophic humanitarian conditions, especially with the decline in relief supplies delivery across the land border, which aid organizations attribute to Israeli restrictions.

On Saturday, the United States, Israel’s foremost political and military supporter in the war, announced that it had begun air-dropping aid into Gaza, similar to steps taken by several countries in recent days.

The start of the American relief operation came a day after President Joe Biden announced this step, speaking of the "need to do more" to ease the painful humanitarian crisis.

An American official said that air-dropping aid or possibly transferring it by sea in the future "cannot substitute for the essential delivery of aid through as many land routes as possible, as this is the most effective way to deliver wide-scale assistance."

Relief convoy

Meanwhile, members of the UN Security Council expressed deep concern "about reports that more than 100 people lost their lives and that hundreds were injured in an incident involving Israeli forces at a large gathering surrounding a humanitarian aid convoy southwest of Gaza City."

In a press statement issued Saturday evening, council members reiterated the "need for all parties to conflicts to comply with their obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law and international human rights law, as applicable."

The tragedy, which occurred Thursday at the Al-Nabulsi roundabout in Gaza City, sparked widespread international condemnation and calls for investigation.

Hamas’s Ministry of Health reported that at least 118 people were killed, and 760 injured by Israeli gunfire while gathering for aid.

Israeli army spokesperson Daniel Hagari said on Sunday that the initial investigation "confirmed that no strike was directed by the (army) towards the aid convoy," adding that "most Palestinians were killed or injured as a result of the stampede."

However, a UN team said it had seen "a large number" of gunshot wounds at Al-Shifa Hospital, which received a large number of the incident’s victims, according to AFP.

With deteriorating humanitarian conditions and escalating violence, the health ministry in the besieged sector announced the death of at least 15 children in recent days due to malnutrition.

Additionally, the ministry announced Sunday that the death toll has risen to 30,410, the vast majority of whom are civilians including women and children since the war began.

The war broke out on October 7 following a Hamas attack on southern Israel that killed more than 1,160 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on Israeli official numbers.

Also, 250 people were held hostage, with 130 still in captivity according to Israel, which believes 31 of them were killed in the sector.

Following that, the Israeli state vowed to "eliminate" Hamas and began intense bombing campaigns on the sector, followed by large-scale ground operations starting October 27.

Field developments

The Ministry of Health said it recorded at least 90 deaths in the past 24 hours, including 14 from the Abu Anza family in the Rafah refugee camp in the south of the sector.

AFP footage showed a completely destroyed building surrounded by dozens of people searching for survivors and retrieving victims.

On the ground, Israel continued its operations, especially in Khan Yunis, which has long been the focus of military pressure.

The army spokesperson said on Sunday the start of a "large-scale attack" in western Khan Yunis, accompanied by "an intensive air assault in which fighter jets struck about 50 terrorist targets in 6 minutes with artillery support."

An AFP correspondent reported heavy shelling and airstrikes overnight in Khan Yunis and Rafah city near the border with Egypt, which has become the last refuge for about 1.5 million displaced persons in the sector.

The Ministry of Health announced Saturday that Israeli shelling hit a camp that left at least 11 dead near the UAE Crescent Hospital in Rafah city.