Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza has entered its 100th day, killing at least 23,843 Palestinians and wounding more than 60,317 others.
Qatar has reached an agreement with Israel to allow the delivery of crucial medicines to captives held by Hamas in Gaza amid the unfolding genocide in the enclave.
The statement from the Israeli prime minister’s office said that the medical supplies were slated to reach the captives “in the next few days”, according to Reuters.
During the October 7 attack, the Al-Qassam Brigades – Hamas’ armed wing – infiltrated occupied territories through air, land and sea, returning to Gaza with at least 240 captives.
The reported development came following a meeting between Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani with six families of American and Israeli captives—first reported by Axios on January 6.
The meeting was part of Qatar’s diplomatic efforts to secure the release of captives from Hamas in Gaza, which come under its wider attempts at reaching a lasting ceasefire.
Doha and Cairo had mediated a temporary truce between November 24 and December 1 following two extensions. The pause saw the release of at least 110 Israeli and foreign captives from Gaza as well as 240 Palestinian women and children from Israeli prisons.
The New York Times reported on Thursday that the delivery of prescription medicine to the remaining 120 captives came in the meeting between their families and the Qatari prime minister.
An anonymous official privy to the talks confirmed the meeting to NYT, saying the discussions involved the quantity and types of medicines needed as well as ways to deliver them.
The official added that discussions were underway with international organisations on the medicines’ delivery.
An official who is familiar with the talks also noted Israel also showed a willingness to deliver medicine to Palestinians in Gaza, according to the report.
Husam Badran, a senior Hamas official, told The Times that the group was discussing the matter “with great positivity”.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) had helped facilitate the exchange of the captives from Gaza and Palestinian detainees from Israeli prisons under the previous pause.
Gaza’s collapsed health sector
Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza has entered its 100th day, killing at least 23,843 Palestinians and wounding more than 60,317 others.
The war has displaced more than two million of Gaza’s population without a shelter above their heads and little resources to survive, especially with the complete Israeli siege.
Only six ambulances are left functioning in the entire Gaza Strip, the Palestinian health ministry said Saturday. At least 121 ambulances have been destroyed by Israeli occupation forces since October 7, according to the Gaza authorities.
Doctors in Gaza have been running around the clock to attend to tens of thousands of injured Palestinians within the deteriorating healthcare system.
Israel killed at least 295 healthcare professionals and injured 342 others, according to figures by Euro-Med on Saturday.
Inpatient departments’ occupancy rates reached 206% whereas the intensive care units reached 250%, the United Nations said in its flash update on Wednesday.
Last Sunday, Gaza’s government said 6,000 wounded Palestinians require urgent evacuation for treatment in neighbouring Egypt.
The Israeli genocide, coupled with the complete siege on Gaza, put most hospitals and health centres out of service. A total of 15 out of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are partially functional, according to the United Nations.
Medical and food aid has barely reached any of Gaza’s 2.2 million population, as convoys of aid accumulate in Egypt, awaiting approval to enter the Strip.
