(AP) — The latest round of Gaza cease-fire talks ended in Cairo after “in-depth and serious discussions,” the Hamas militant group said Sunday, reiterating key demands that Israel again rejected. After earlier signs of progress, the outlook appeared to dim as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to resist international pressure to halt the war.

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant claimed Hamas wasn’t serious about a deal and warned of “a powerful operation in the very near future in Rafah and other places across all of Gaza ” after Hamas attacked Israel’s main crossing point for delivering badly needed humanitarian aid, killing three soldiers. Israel’s military said it believed Hamas was targeting soldiers massed on the Gaza border in preparation for a possible Rafah invasion. Hamas said it targeted soldiers in the area.

But Israeli media reported that CIA chief William Burns, a main mediator in the talks, would meet with Netanyahu on Monday. An official familiar with the matter told The Associated Press that Burns was traveling to meet the prime minister of Qatar, which along with Egypt has been an intermediary dealing with Hamas. It was not clear whether a subsequent trip to Israel that had been planned would happen. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the closed-door negotiations.

Israel didn’t send a delegation to the latest talks. Egyptian state media reported that the Hamas delegation went for discussions in Qatar, where the group has a political office, and will return to Cairo for further negotiations on Tuesday.

Another threat to talks came as Israel ordered the local offices of Qatar’s Al Jazeera satellite news network to close, accusing it of broadcasting anti-Israel incitement. The ban did not appear to affect the channel’s operations in Gaza or the West Bank.

Netanyahu, under pressure from hard-liners in his government, continued to lower expectations for a cease-fire deal, calling the key Hamas demands “extreme” — including the withdrawal of Israel forces from Gaza and an end to the war. That would equal surrender after the Hamas attack on Oct. 7 that triggered the fighting, he said.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in a statement earlier said the militant group was serious and positive about the negotiations and that stopping Israeli aggression in Gaza is the main priority.

But Israel’s government again vowed to press on with a military operation in Rafah, the southernmost Gaza city on the border with Egypt where more than half of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents now seek shelter from Israeli attacks. Rafah is a key entry point for aid.

Kerem Shalom, now closed, is another. The Israeli military reported 10 projectiles were launched at the crossing in southern Israel and said its fighter jets later struck the source. Israel’s Channel 12 TV channel said 10 soldiers remained hospitalized. It was unclear how long the crossing would be closed.

The head of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, Philippe Lazzarini, called for an independent investigation and “accountability for the blatant disregard of humanitarian workers.” He also said Israel this week denied him entry to Gaza for a second time.

The closing of Kerem Shalom came shortly after the head of the U.N. World Food Program asserted “full-blown famine” in devastated northern Gaza, one of the most prominent warnings yet of the toll of restrictions on aid entering the territory. It was not a formal famine declaration.

In the full NBC interview, WFP chief Cindy McCain said famine was “moving its way south” in Gaza and that Israel’s efforts to allow in more aid were not enough. “We have right now a mass on the outside border, about enough trucks and enough food for 1.1 million people for about three months. We need to get that in,” she said.

Gaza’s vast humanitarian needs put pressure on cease-fire talks. The proposal that Egyptian mediators put to Hamas sets out a three-stage process that would bring an immediate, six-week cease-fire and partial release of Israeli hostages taken on Oct. 7, and would include some sort of Israeli pullout. The initial stage would last for 40 days. Hamas would start by releasing female civilian hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

Netanyahu claimed that Israel has shown willingness to make concessions but “will continue fighting until all of its objectives are achieved.” That includes the stated aim of crushing Hamas. Israel says it must target Rafah to strike remaining fighters there despite warnings from the U.S. and others about the danger to civilians.

In a fiery speech for Israel’s annual Holocaust memorial day, Netanyahu added: “I say to the leaders of the world, no amount of pressure, no decision by any international forum will stop Israel from defending itself.”

An Israeli strike Sunday on a house in an urban refugee camp near Rafah killed four children, including a baby, and two adults, all from the same family, according to Abu Youssef al-Najjar Hospital. Another Israeli strike on the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza killed at least five people, according to Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, which received the bodies. Israel’s military said it struck a Hamas command center in central Gaza. It didn’t mention casualties.

The Hamas cross-border attack on Oct. 7 killed some 1,200 people and took 250 others hostage. Israel says militants still hold around 100 hostages and the remains of more than 30 others. Netanyahu is under pressure from some hostages’ families to make a deal to end the war and get hostages freed.

Israeli’s air and ground offensive has killed over 34,500 people, according to Palestinian health officials, who don’t differentiate between civilians and combatants but say women and children make up a majority of those killed.

Israel blames Hamas for civilian deaths, accusing it of embedding in residential and public areas. The Israeli military says it has killed 13,000 militants, without providing evidence to back up the claim.

(A7) Following precise IDF and ISA intelligence, IAF fighter jets struck a Hamas command and control center in the central Gaza Strip which served as central terrorist infrastructure. The strike was carefully planned and carried out using precise munition in order to minimize harm to uninvolved civilians.

The command and control center was used as a staging ground for multiple attacks on IDF troops located in Gaza’s central corridor in recent weeks. Furthermore, the forward operations base was used to carry out attacks on humanitarian efforts, which aimed to increase the distribution of humanitarian aid to Gazan civilians.

In addition, Hamas oversaw the supply of weapons to dozens of Hamas terrorists from inside the command and control center, including those located and operating inside underground terror tunnels.

According to the IDF Hamas intentionally positioned the command and control position within the vicinity of an active UNRWA location, jeopardizing the Gazan civilians taking refuge there.

“The Hamas terrorist organization systematically exploits the civilian population and institutions as human shields for their terrorist activities against the State of Israel,” the IDF stated.

As a result of the strike, the Hamas’ command and control center located in the UNRWA complex is no longer operational.

(A7) Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday addressed the opening ceremony of Holocaust Remembrance Day.

During the address, the Prime Minister turned to the world in English: “Eighty years ago, in the Holocaust, the Jewish people were totally defenseless against those who sought our destruction. No nation came to our aid.

“Today, we again confront enemies bent on our destruction.”

Netanyahu continued: “I say to the leaders of the world, no amount of pressure, no decision by any international forum, will stop Israel from defending itself.”

He concluded by pledging: “As the Prime Minister of Israel – the one and only Jewish state – I pledge here today from Jerusalem on this Holocaust Remembrance Day: If Israel is forced to stand alone, Israel will stand alone. But we know we are not alone because countless decent people around the world support our just cause. And I say to you, we will defeat our genocidal enemies. Never again is now!”

(A7) Davidi Ben Zion, KKL-JNF representative at the March of the Living in Budapest, presented during his speech on Sunday a copy of the book “Mein Kampf”, which was written by Nazi leader Adolf Hitler and found during the war in the house of a Hamas commander in Khan Yunis.

Major (res.) Ben Zion, who fought in Gaza, specifically brought with him the book that was translated from German to Arabic and found by his soldiers during the Swords of Iron war. The book was presented to the approximately 8,000 participants in the March of the Living and in front of the cameras of international media outlets.

“A few months ago, when we were serving in Gaza, we came across a chilling reminder of the darkest chapter of humanity: Mein Kampf. We found this book in the home of a Hamas commander in the town of Bani Suheila in Khan Yunis,” said Ben Zion.

He added, “Today, when we are at a gathering of solidarity with the Jewish people, our hearts are with the brave IDF soldiers, who stand at the front and defend our homeland against terrorism and hatred in all sectors. Our thoughts and prayers go to our kidnapped brethren, innocent victims held captive by the Hamas terrorist organization in Gaza in inhumane conditions. Our hearts ache with their families and we all hope for their safe return soon.”

“When we recount the struggles and victories of the Jewish people, we are reminded of the resilience of the human spirit and the tremendous power of hope. As we commemorate Yom Hashoah here in Budapest, we vow never to forget the horrors of the past and to stand guard against the forces of hatred and evil that threaten to harm us again and again,” continued Ben Zion.

Ben Zion later wrote on social media, “There was one thing I knew I would take with me from Khan Yunis to the March of the Living in Budapest. It was Hitler’s Mein Kampf book, which we found in the house of a commander in Hamas. Today in my speech, in front of 8,000 participants of the March of the Living, I presented the Nazi book found in Gaza. The world must remember and understand. The Nazis are still here, they just change their style and language. The people of Israel are here to stay forever. Of course, a pro-Palestinian protester interrupted my speech, connecting the denial of the massacre committed by Hamas with the denial of the Holocaust. I answered him at the end of my speech: Am Yisrael Chai.”

(JNS)
The Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health can’t provide names of more than 10,000 of the 34,000 it says have died during the war with Israel, the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies reports.

“While the Health Ministry conceded earlier this month that it has ‘incomplete data’ for nearly one-third of the deceased, this is the first admission that it lacks an essential data point necessary to establish these deaths have even taken place,” the Washington-based think tank noted on May 2.

On April 24, the ministry released a graphic to mark the 200th day of the war that started when Hamas invaded Israel on Oct. 7, repeating its claim that hostilities took more than 34,000 Gazan lives. However, it added that only 24,000 of the dead are “martyrs whose idintities [sic] are recognized.”

As of April 21, 10,152 of the ministry’s fatality records had incomplete data. “An explanatory note in the April 1 digest says incomplete records lack one or more of five basic data points: ID number, full name, sex, date of birth, or date of death,” FDD reported.

While it was unclear which of those data points was missing, “it is now clear the ministry does not have names for these individuals,” FDD said.

U.S. President Joe Biden has cited figures from the Gaza Health Ministry without identifying them as such.

“Before citing them again, he should ask the intelligence community to evaluate the data’s sources and accuracy,” FDD said. “Likewise, journalists should press the Gaza Health Ministry to explain the increasing number of inconsistencies in its reports.”

Some have challenged the Hamas casualty figures.

Abraham Wyner, a professor of statistics and data science at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, wrote in Tablet magazine in March, “The numbers are not real. That much is obvious to anyone who understands how naturally occurring numbers work.

“The casualties are not overwhelmingly women and children, and the majority may be Hamas fighters,” he wrote.

Wyner noted that child casualties should track with women casualties. This has to do with the daily variation in strikes on residential buildings and tunnels.

“Consequently, on the days with many women casualties there should be large numbers of children casualties, and on the days when just a few women are reported to have been killed, just a few children should be reported,” he wrote.

FDD noted in its report that economist Michael Spagat, who defended the ministry’s methods, admitted that when looking only at the complete records, “then the percentage of women and children drops to 53.3%,” as opposed to the 70% or more the ministry has often claimed.

Hamas began to retreat from that claim in April.

The IDF says it has killed more than 13,000 terrorists inside the Strip during the current war, and around 1,000 inside Israel on or immediately after Oct. 7