GAZA STRIP, Palestinian Territories: The Gaza war鈥檚 reported Palestinian death toll neared 30,000 Wednesday as fighting raged in the Hamas-run territory despite mediators insisting a truce with Israel could be just days away.
Another 91 people were killed in overnight Israeli bombardment, the health ministry said.
Mediators from Eygpt, Qatar and the United States have been trying to find a path to a ceasefire amid the bitter fighting, with negotiators seeking a six-week pause in the nearly five-month war.
After a flurry of diplomacy, mediators said a deal could finally be within reach 鈥� reportedly including the release of some Israeli hostages held in Gaza since Hamas鈥檚 October 7 attack in exchange for several hundred Palestinian detainees held by Israel.
鈥淢y hope is by next Monday we鈥檒l have a ceasefire鈥� but 鈥渨e鈥檙e not done yet,鈥� US President Joe Biden said on Tuesday.
Qatari foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al-Ansari said Doha was 鈥渉opeful, not necessarily optimistic, that we can announce something鈥� before Thursday.
But he cautioned that 鈥渢he situation is still fluid on the ground.鈥�
Doha has suggested the pause in fighting would come before the beginning of Ramadan, the Muslim fasting month which starts on March 10 or 11, depending on the lunar calendar.
Hamas had been pushing for the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza 鈥� a demand rejected outright by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
But a Hamas source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the deal might see the Israeli military leave 鈥渃ities and populated areas,鈥� allowing the return of some displaced Palestinians and humanitarian relief.
Israel鈥檚 military campaign in Gaza has killed at least 29,954 people, mostly women and children, according to the territory鈥檚 health ministry.
The war was triggered by an unprecedented Hamas attack on southern Israel that resulted in the deaths of around 1,160 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official figures.
Militants also took about 250 hostages, 130 of whom remain in Gaza, including 31 presumed dead, according to Israel.
Since the war began, hundreds of thousands of Gazans have been displaced, with nearly 1.5 million people now packed into the far-southern city of Rafah, where Israel has warned it plans to launch a ground offensive.
Those who remain in northern Gaza have been facing an increasingly desperate situation, aid groups have warned.
鈥淚f nothing changes, a famine is imminent in northern Gaza,鈥� the World Food Programme鈥檚 deputy executive director Carl Skau told the UN Security Council Tuesday.
His colleague from the UN humanitarian office OCHA, Ramesh Rajasingham, warned of 鈥渁lmost inevitable鈥� widespread starvation.
The WFP said no humanitarian group had been able to deliver aid to the north for more than a month, with aid blocked from entering by Israeli forces.
鈥淚 have not eaten for two days,鈥� said Mahmud Khodr, a resident of Jabalia refugee camp in the north, where children roamed with empty pots.
鈥淭here is nothing to eat or drink.鈥�
Most aid trucks have been halted, but foreign militaries have air dropped supplies including on Tuesday over Rafah and Gaza鈥檚 main southern city Khan Yunis.
What aid does enter Gaza passes through the Rafah border crossing from Egypt, fueling a warning from UN chief Antonio Guterres that any assault on the city would 鈥減ut the final nail in the coffin鈥� of relief operations in the territory.
Israel has insisted it would move civilians to safety before sending troops into Rafah but it has not released any details.
Egypt has warned that an assault on the city would have 鈥渃atastrophic repercussions across the region,鈥� with Cairo concerned about an influx of refugees.
Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said Tuesday that Israel will 鈥渓isten to the Egyptians and their interests,鈥� adding that Israel 鈥渃annot conduct an operation鈥� with the current large population in Rafah.
Ahead of the threatened ground incursion, the area has been hit repeatedly by Israeli air strikes.
An AFP correspondent reported that overnight several air strikes hit the southern cities of Khan Yunis and Rafah, as well as Zeitun in central Gaza.
The army said it had 鈥渒illed a number of terrorists and located weapons鈥� in Zeitun.
It said two more soldiers had died in the fighting in Gaza, taking its overall toll to 242 since the start of the ground offensive on October 27.