Hamas has reiterated its refusal to disarm until a sovereign Palestinian state is established, directly responding to a key Israeli demand in Gaza ceasefire negotiations, according to a BBC report. The Palestinian armed group stated this in reaction to comments attributed to US President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, who claimed Hamas had “expressed its willingness” to lay down arms. Israel maintains that Hamas’s disarmament is a fundamental condition for any agreement to end the conflict. Indirect talks between Israel and Hamas aimed at securing a ceasefire and hostage release stalled last week.
Amidst the rubble of Gaza, death continues in the chaos of airstrikes and fighting. Hamas-controlled authorities reported at least 51 fatalities in the latest 24-hour period, including twelve people seeking food. With the civilian population increasingly exhausted, international efforts to deliver humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip by any means, including airdrops, are intensifying – an operation Italy has now joined. Hostages also suffer, with about twenty still believed alive.
US envoy Steve Witkoff met with hostages’ families, who were further traumatized by a shocking Hamas video showing captive Evyatar David reduced to a skeleton in a tunnel, creating a disturbing parallel with Gazans dying of starvation. With truce negotiations deadlocked for weeks, the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) warned that food scarcity now rivals bullets as the greatest threat to the population.
Children bear the heaviest burden. UNICEF warned 320,000 children are at risk of malnutrition and updated the death toll after 22 months of war: “Over 18,000 children killed, an average of 28 per day – the equivalent of a classroom.”
Facing mounting international pressure, the Netanyahu government has facilitated increased humanitarian aid flow. In recent hours, 90 aid packages were airdropped by five nations: UAE, Jordan, Egypt, France, and Germany. Italy joined the initiative following coordination between its Foreign and Defence ministries and recent contacts between Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Rome will continue participation in coordination with partners. Separately, Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani announced humanitarian goods, including tents and animal feed, were released from Ashdod port thanks to Italy’s embassy in Tel Aviv.
Berlin acknowledged a slight improvement in aid deliveries to Gaza but warned it remains “insufficient.” The German government, which recently broke with traditional caution by calling for negotiations on a Palestinian state, convened to consider new pressure tactics on Israel, including a partial halt to arms sales.
The US offered a differing assessment of Gaza’s humanitarian situation. “There is scarcity of food, but there is no famine,” asserted envoy Witkoff after visiting distribution centers and meeting Israeli hostages’ families in Tel Aviv. Trump’s emissary admitted negotiations are “complicated” and confirmed the White House position: a comprehensive, not partial, agreement is needed to end the war and secure all hostages’ return.
Hamas responded to this appeal with its standard position: “We will not lay down our arms until the occupation ends.” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly weighs two military options: encircling Gaza City and other population centers or occupying the city. Meanwhile, Hamas released new propaganda footage featuring hostage Evyatar David. Its editing draws a crude parallel: images of the emaciated, struggling young man are intercut with malnourished Palestinians. An on-screen message claims hostages “eat and drink what we eat and drink.” More macabrely, David is shown digging a grave-like pit with a shovel. His desperate family stated: “We are forced to watch the scene of our beloved son and brother deliberately and cynically starving to death.”