Gaza’s displaced souls: Images show Palestinians forced to wait on beach for humanitarian aid amid Israeli strikes – as Netanyahu prepares for invasion of Rafah

Harrowing images have emerged of Palestinians lining up along beaches as they desperately wait for humanitarian aid, amid Israeli attacks and an expected Rafah invasion.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said today that while the southern Gaza city’s military offensive could be “slightly delayed” by a ceasefire, total victory would be “weeks away” once the invasion begins.

Heartbreaking photos have emerged of hundreds of Palestinians, including children, gathering on a beach in Gaza City. One man was seen praying on the ground in an image that captures the despair of the Palestinian people.

Others were seen driving trucks, bicycles, horses and carriages as large groups of civilians waited for help during the raging war.

Israel said 245 trucks of aid entered Gaza today – less than half the amount that entered daily before the war.

In recent weeks, Palestinians have reported having to make bread from livestock feed, while new mothers say baby food is inaccessible or unaffordable.

Heartbreaking photos have emerged of hundreds of displaced Palestinians, including children, gathering on a beach in Gaza City

Nearly 30,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war, according to the Hamas-led Health Ministry

Nearly 30,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war, according to the Hamas-led Health Ministry.

The Israeli army has bombed Gaza since Hamas terrorists crossed the border and killed 1,200 people in Israel on October 7.

Amid talk of an offensive in Rafah, Netanyahu confirmed to CBS that a ceasefire deal is in the works, but gave no details.

Israeli media reported that mediators were making progress on a ceasefire deal and the release of dozens of hostages held in Gaza, as well as Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.

Several Israeli media outlets, citing unnamed officials, said the War Cabinet had tacitly approved it.

Talks resumed in Qatar on Sunday, Egyptian state television Al Qahera TV reported, citing an Egyptian official as saying further talks would follow in Cairo with the aim of reaching the ceasefire and release.

Meanwhile, Israel is developing plans to expand its offensive against the militant Hamas group to Rafah on the Gaza-Egypt border, where more than half of the besieged territory’s 2.3 million residents have taken refuge.

Humanitarian groups have warned of a catastrophe, with Rafah the main gateway for aid, and the US and other allies have said Israel must avoid harming civilians.

Mr Netanyahu has said he will convene the Cabinet this week to approve operational plans for action in Rafah, including the evacuation of civilians.

Demolished buildings, destroyed by Israeli airstrikes, such as the withdrawal of Israeli troops from some parts of Khan Younis

Rafah is the last refuge of the estimated 1.4 million Palestinians driven south

Israel previously warned that it would begin its invasion of Rafah on March 10, the start of Ramadan, unless Hamas returned the approximately 130 hostages remaining hidden in Gaza.

A donkey-drawn car passes the Al-Faruq Mosque, razed by Israeli bombing in Rafah

“Once we start the Rafah operation, the intense phase of the fighting is still weeks away from completion, not months,” Netanyahu told CBS. ‘If we don’t have a deal, we’ll do it anyway. It must be done because total victory is our goal and total victory is within our reach.”

He said four of the six remaining Hamas battalions are concentrated in Rafah.

U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told NBC that U.S. President Joe Biden had not been briefed on the Rafah plan, saying, “We believe that this operation should not proceed until or unless we see (a plan to protect civilians). ‘

Heavy fighting continued in parts of northern Gaza, the first target of the offensive. Residents have fought fiercely for days in Gaza City’s Zaytoun neighborhood.

“We are stuck and cannot move because of the heavy bombardment,” said resident Ayman Abu Awad.

He said starving residents have been forced to eat fodder and search for food in demolished buildings. Northern Gaza has been largely cut off from aid and the UN World Food Program suspended deliveries last week.

Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner general of the UN agency for Palestinians, said they have been unable to deliver food to northern Gaza since January 23, adding on X, formerly Twitter, that “our calls to send food aid are turned down’.

Palestinians wait with empty water jerry cans to refill them with clean water

Smoke rises during an Israeli ground operation in Khan Younis, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas

Dust and smoke from airstrikes engulf Palestinians walking along Al Rashid Road after crossing from the northern Gaza Strip to southern Gaza City

Palestinians walk past destroyed houses in the Al Nusairat refugee camp

4 Destroyed Palestinian homes in Al Nusairat refugee camp

A senior Egyptian official, who along with Qatar is a mediator between Israel and Hamas, has said the draft ceasefire includes the release of up to 40 women and elderly hostages in exchange for up to 300 Palestinian prisoners, mostly women , minors and older. people.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the negotiations, said the proposed six-week pause in fighting would include allowing hundreds of trucks to bring much-needed aid to Gaza every day, including the north.

He said both sides agreed to continue negotiations on further releases and a permanent ceasefire during the break.

Negotiators face an unofficial deadline for the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan around March 10, a period when Israeli-Palestinian tensions often rise.

Hamas says it was not involved in the latest proposal from the US, Egypt and Qatar, but the reported outline is largely in line with its previous proposal for the first phase of a ceasefire.

Hamas has said it will not release all remaining hostages until Israel ends its offensive and withdraws its troops from the area, demanding the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, including senior militants – conditions Mr Netanyahu has rejected.