Netanyahu says Israel will return to table for cease-fire talks with Hamas

AP:  Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel will return to the table for cease-fire talks with Hamas.

Friday’s announcement marks yet another attempt to reach a deal to pause Israel’s devastating war in Gaza against Hamas in exchange for the release of Israeli hostages. Efforts by the United States, Qatar and Egypt to negotiate a cease-fire appear stalled as the war grinds through its sixth month.

Hamas has previously suggested a phased release of all remaining hostages in return for an end to the war and full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, the opening of its borders for aid and reconstruction, and the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, including top militants serving life sentences.

Netanyahu has called these conditions delusional, and says that after any hostage release, Israel will keep fighting until Hamas is destroyed.

Hamas is believed to be holding roughly 100 hostages, as well as the remains of about 30 people killed in the group’s Oct. 7 attack or who died in captivity. Some 1,200 people were killed in Israel during the surprise attack, which triggered the current conflict.

Israel's war in Gaza has killed more than 32,000 people and wounded 74,000, according to the the territory's Health Ministry. The ministry doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants in its tally, but says women and children make up two-thirds of the dead.

The U.N. has reported that 100% of Gaza’s 2.3 million people are at severe levels of food insecurity. Aid deliveries have been impeded by Israeli military restrictions, ongoing hostilities and the breakdown of public order, according to the U.N. and international aid groups.