'Hamas ready to resume hostage-ceasefire talks with Israel'

Fighting raged on Saturday across Gaza, where displaced Palestinians are "exhausted" with no end in sight to war between the besieged territory's Hamas rulers and Israel, now in its 13th week.

Smoke billowed over the Gaza Strip's southern city of Khan Yunis, the focus of recent fighting in the grinding war.

Further south, the border city of Rafah near Egypt was teeming with Gazans seeking safety from Israel's relentless bombardment.

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Mediation efforts

International mediators - who last month brokered a one-week truce that saw more than 100 hostages released and some aid enter Gaza - continue in their efforts to secure a new pause in fighting.

US news outlet Axios and Israeli website Ynet, both citing unnamed Israeli officials, reported that Qatari mediators had told Israel that Hamas was prepared to resume talks on new hostage releases in exchange for a ceasefire.

And a Hamas delegation was in Cairo on Friday to discuss an Egyptian plan proposing renewable ceasefires, a staggered release of hostages for Palestinian prisoners, and ultimately an end to the war, sources close to Hamas say.

Israel has yet to formally comment on the Cairo plan, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told families of hostages on Thursday that "we are in contact" with the Egyptian mediators.

Israeli hostage recalls capture horror

Mia Shem, an Israeli-French hostage abducted from the site of a desert rave and released under November's truce agreement, told Israeli media her "biggest fear" in captivity was rape.

"There was a fear of rape, fear of dying," Shem said in an interview with Israel's Channel 13 which aired on Friday.

During her captivity, the 21-year-old said she remained locked up "in a dark room" and was "forbidden" from talking.

Wounded by a gunshot during her kidnapping, she said she had "no painkillers."

Israeli officials and rights groups have repeatedly said the October 7 attacks included sexual violence, but its scale has been difficult to assess. Hamas denies accusations of rape.

Infectious disease threat

An Israeli siege imposed after October 7, following years of crippling blockade, has led to dire shortages of food, safe water, fuel and medicine in Gaza, with aid convoys offering only sporadic relief.

The UN says more than 85 percent of Gaza's 2.4 million people have fled their homes, with many now going hungry and braving the winter rains in tents.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Friday on social media that "as people continue to be massively displaced across the south of Gaza... I remain very concerned about the increasing threat of infectious diseases."

The UN health agency said that close to 180,000 people were suffering from upper respiratory infections, while 136,400 cases of diarrhoea have been recorded - half among children aged under five.

South Africa on Friday filed an application at the International Court of Justice to start proceedings against Israel for what it said were "genocidal acts against the Palestinian people in Gaza."

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