Middle-East conflict: ceasefire talks continue in Qatar as Israel nears central Gaza
Amidst ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, as discussions for peace talks continue, Israel pushes into central Gaza.
Israel and Hamas proceed with ceasefire talks in Qatar, but Israel’s continuous killings of Palestinians seeking help negates efforts to end conflict, according to a report released by Bel Trew, chief international correspondent.
“We were just skeletons, walking.” This is how Younis, 32, a father of four, described the death march to the Gaza aid convoy on Sunday when Israeli forces opened fire.
“Shortly after the food trucks arrived, a shell blew up a small crowd sending people flying through the air to the side of him. Then a bullet ripped through the air by his head.
“The gunfire was so intense that it was like they were aiming to drink our blood,” he told The Independent, his voice still shaking.
“I feel like we’ve been put on a chicken farm and starved and killed.
“Trapped under a mound of people – some alive, some injured, some dead–he managed to crawl free with a single kilo of flour, which later, in the scrum to safety, he had to drop.
Middle-East Conflict: Ceasefire Talks Continue In Qatar
“Since the morning, my children had woken me up crying ‘Daddy I want to eat’. These words burned my blood and made me go to danger.”
According to the United Nation’s global hunger monitor, it is warned that almost all of Gaza’s 2.3 million people are placed on the tip of famine.
Alleging that Hamas has stolen the aid to strengthen its war, Israel has mounted siege on Gaza, either partially or fully impeding access into the tiny 25-mile long strip.
These are strategies legal analysts describe as war crime, crime against humanity and even “genocide in action”─a claim Israel has denied.
Palestinians came together to receive aid from a kitchen in Nuseirat, central Gaza.
On Sunday, the World Food Programme (WFP) stated that strange convoy of 25 trucks conveying nourishing food aid were allowed to cross into northern Gaza.
It was welcome with large crowd of people expectantly waiting to access to food supplies─among them, Younis.
“As the convoy approached, the surrounding crowd came under fire from Israeli tanks, snipers and other gunfire,” the WFP said.
The Palestinian health authorities stated that a minimum of 99 people got killed in what is trusted to be the deadliest day for the folks seeking aid since the beginning of the war in October, 2023─over 800 people have been killed while attempting to get food.
The Israeli military has disclosed that it fired warning shots “to remove an immediate threat”, but refuted the death toll aired by the Palestinians.
After one day, on Monday, Israel proclaimed an widening of its military operations against Hamas, announcing new forced evacuation orders for parts of Deir al-Balah, a southwestern part of Gaza widely tagged as a “safe zone” and a home to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians made homeless during over 21-months war between Hamas and Israel, as well as various vital United Nations’ facilities , aid agency guesthouse and clinics.
Middle-East Conflict: Ceasefire Talks Continue In Qatar
Belgium’s king Philippe, who barely talks about the Israel-Gaza conflict, described it as a “disgrace to humanity” and again proposed “an immediate end to this unbearable crisis”.
But instead, the proliferation of murder and conflict is negating all attempts to strike even a temporary truce taking place in Qatar.
As disclosed by an official close to the negotiations: “Whatever happens on the battlefield directly impacts what happens at the negotiating table.”
As It Stands, Israel Is Spreading
David Lammy has implored Israel to embrace an immediate ceasefire (House of Commons). Just yesterday, Monday, 21st, July, 2025, Israeli forces extended their military operations into the districts of Deir al-Balah for the first time, despite global backlash and even demonstrations at home from the biggest sector representing the relatives of those who have been taken captive by Hamas militants during its attacks in October, 2023.
In Deir al-Balah, physicians scrambled to leave the area, moving to get patients to safe environment as they abandoned vital supplies.
“We were only able to extract around 50 per cent of our medical stock. The rest remains behind,” says Maram Shurafa, medical programme officer for UK-based Medical Aid for Palestinians, about the clinic where she works, which serves on average 320 people a day.
“Ms. Shurafa’s own home is within the evacuation zone, but she couldn’t do anything about it because she had to prioritise the patients.
“The pressure was immense. We were still treating patients right up to the moment we shut the doors. Many people stood outside waiting for care, but we had to turn them away,” she said.
“I felt lost, overwhelmed, and feared losing everything.”
Meanwhile, United Nations’ officials state that despite the orders, some offices inside the evacuation area will remain open, amid apparent dangers.
Tamara al-Rifae, spokesperson for the UN’s Palestinian refugee agency, UNRWA, states that Deir al-Balah has been described as one of the few areas where the UN and other humanitarian groups could “set up shop, set up services.
”Middle-East Conflict: Ceasefire Talks Continue In Qatar
“The UN will stay and deliver which means we will continue to seek the deconfliction of our the aid facilities” she says, adding that across Gaza their facilities and shelters have been repeatedly hit.
“We will continue to ask the Israeli government to spare the UN. The toll is already very, very high. Over 325 UNRWA staff members have been killed. So… we asked to be spared as per international humanitarian law.”
Even in Israel, the pressure is piling on the Israeli government. The biggest group representing the relatives of the hostages said they were “shocked and alarmed” by the push into Deir al-Balah.
“They demanded an audience with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the heads of the military to clearly explain why the offensive in the Deir al-Balah area does not put the hostages at serious risk”.
Civilians Pray For A Truce In Gaza
“I hope these are the last days of the war,” says Ihab Abdullah, 43, displaced within Gaza City. “We eagerly await a truce that will end the hunger and war we are living. We are dying of hunger and bombing.”
Middle-East Conflict: Ceasefire Talks Continue In Qatar