Gaza ceasefire talks resume in Doha as deaths top 40,000

DOHA — The United States hailed a "promising start" to Gaza ceasefire talks Thursday, as pressure mounted for a deal to halt the spread of a war that the territory's health ministry said has killed 40,000.

Talks involving CIA director William Burns opened in the Qatari capital Doha, US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said.

It was not immediately clear if Hamas had sent any delegates to the meeting, which Israel planned to attend.

"Today is a promising start," Kirby told reporters in Washington, adding: "There remains a lot of work to do."

The talks were expected to continue on Friday, he said.

"We need to see the hostages released, relief for Palestinian civilians in Gaza, security for Israel and lower tensions in the region, and we need to see those things as soon as possible," he added.

A Hamas official said the Islamist movement would demand the implementation of the plan that Biden said would start with an initial six-week "complete ceasefire", the release of hostages and a "surge" in humanitarian aid as the warring sides negotiate "a permanent end to hostilities".

The latest diplomatic push comes as the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said the death toll in the besieged Palestinian territory had surpassed 40,000 -- which UN human rights chief Volker Turk called a "grim milestone".

"Most of the dead are women and children. This unimaginable situation is overwhelmingly due to recurring failures by the Israeli Defense Forces to comply with the rules of war," he added.

The Gaza ministry, which does not provide a breakdown of civilian and militant casualties, said the tally included 40 deaths in the previous 24 hours.

Consultations 

US news website Axios, citing US officials, said former president Donald Trump, who is seeking re-election, spoke with Netanyahu on Wednesday and discussed the Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal.

The latest mediation push follows the July 31 killing of Hamas political leader and truce negotiator Ismail Haniyeh during a visit to Tehran. His killing sent fears of a wider conflagration soaring.

Iran and its regional allies blamed Israel and vowed retaliation. Israel has not claimed responsibility for the attack.

Western leaders have urged Tehran to avoid hitting Israel over Haniyeh's killing, which came hours after an Israeli strike in Beirut killed Hezbollah's military commander.

A spokesman for Netanyahu told AFP that the heads of the Mossad spy agency and Shin Bet internal security service would attend the Doha talks.

Qatar was "working to ensure that there is Hamas representation as well", State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said.

Bloodied children 

Fallout from the conflict has drawn in Iran-aligned groups from Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq and Syria.

More than 370 Hizbollah members have been killed in 10 months of near daily cross-border fire with Israeli forces, according to an AFP tally, more than the Iran-backed movement lost in the 2006 war with Israel.

On the Israeli side, 22 soldiers and 26 civilians have been killed, including in the annexed Golan Heights, according to military figures.

In Gaza, where the war has destroyed much of the territory's housing and other infrastructure, relatively few incidents were reported on Thursday.

In the most deadly bombing, rescuers said air strikes killed five people in Gaza City.

Israel's military said troops had killed about 20 militants in Rafah, southern Gaza.

On Wednesday, dead and wounded including bloodied children arrived at Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Yunis after an Israeli strike.

"I was not pro-Hamas but now I support them and I want to fight," one grieving man shouted.