A drone view shows houses destroyed during the Israeli offensive in Beit Hanoun, northern Gaza Strip
A group of UN human rights experts said on Thursday that Israel is again "weaponising starvation" in Gaza by blocking humanitarian aid after the first phase of a ceasefire deal expired.A fragile ceasefire since January 19 saw an influx of humanitarian aid into Gaza, before Israel on Sunday announced it was blocking deliveries until Palestinian resistance group Hamas accepted its terms for an extension of the ceasefire.The group of more than 30 experts -- specialists in various fields who are mandated by the UN Human Rights Council but do not speak on behalf of the United Nations -- said the Israeli action breached international law.A US envoy yesterday praised Egypt for coming up with a new Arab plan on Gaza, without endorsing details of the proposed alternative to Trump's calls to displace Palestinians en masse."We need more discussion about it, but it's a good-faith first step from the Egyptians," Steve Witkoff, Trump's Middle East pointman, told reporters.Witkoff said Trump had succeeded in "now encouraging other people in the Middle East -- Middle Eastern world -- to present proactive proposals for what we might consider," he said.In a strongly worded social media posting on Wednesday, Trump warned the people of Gaza that "you are DEAD" unless Palestinian resistance movement Hamas frees hostages, as a ceasefire deal teeters.Witkoff suggested that the threat may be a preview to joint action against Hamas."I think there's going to be some action. It could be jointly with the Israelis," he said.Egypt announced that the Arab plan for early recovery, reconstruction and development of Gaza, adopted by Tuesday's extraordinary Arab summit in Cairo, includes building 460,000 permanent housing units and restoring basic services, networks and facilities.This came during a series of meetings held by the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs with foreign ambassadors accredited to Cairo from Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas, as well as with international organisations representatives, within the framework of efforts to promote the Arab plan.A ministry statement said the meetings covered comprehensive vision of the plan, its elements and its three stages, which will include removing 50mn tonnes of rubble and removing unexploded ordnance, noting that it was also confirmed during these meetings that the plan was formulated in a way that takes into account the extent of the widespread destruction within the Gaza Strip, and the urgent need to provide relief to the Palestinian people in Gaza, so that they can regain normal life.She added that the meetings also addressed other topics, including achieving security in the Gaza Strip by intensifying training programmes for Palestinian police personnel and building their capacities, as well as enabling the Palestinian Authority to return to supervising the Gaza Strip.Meanwhile, unprecedented direct talks between the US and Hamas are a sign of dysfunction in fraught negotiations to prolong a truce in Gaza, analysts said.Washington revealed it held talks with Hamas, which it designates as a "terrorist" organisation, amid a standoff between Israel and the Palestinian group over how to proceed with the ceasefire, whose first phase expired last weekend.The direct contact is "a sign of a breakdown in mediation for a wider ceasefire", geopolitics expert Neil Quilliam said, calling the move "symptomatic" of United States President Donald Trump's "impatience with complex and timely negotiations".Israel "must be concerned that his maverick approach to policy could undermine their immediate interests", Quilliam added."After all, the US president has already thrown a number of key allies under the bus," said Quilliam, associate fellow at the Chatham House think-tank's Middle East and North Africa Programme.
James Dorsey, another Middle East specialist, said the direct talks would give Hamas "a sense of having been legitimised strongly".
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