Hostage held in Gaza dies as Israel, Hamas work on cease-fire deal

Dror Or, a 49-year-old held captive in Gaza, has died, the Hostages Families Forum said Friday. Or marks the 38th hostage killed, the forum said.

He was one of about 250 people abducted when Hamas attacked southern Israel on October 7, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians. Israel says militants still hold around 100 hostages and the remains of more than 30 others.

Dozens of people demonstrated Thursday night outside Israel's military headquarters in Tel Aviv, demanding a deal to release the hostages. Meanwhile, Hamas said it would send a delegation to Cairo as soon as possible to keep working on cease-fire talks. A leaked truce proposal hints at compromises by both sides after months of talks languishing in a stalemate.

Across the United States, tent encampments and demonstrations against the Israel-Hamas war have spread across university campuses. More than 2,000 protesters have been arrested over the past two weeks as students rally against the war's death toll and call for universities to separate themselves from any companies that are advancing Israel's military efforts in Gaza.

The Israel-Hamas war has driven around 80 per cent of Gaza's population of 2.3 million from their homes, caused vast destruction in several towns and cities, and pushed northern Gaza to the brink of famine. The death toll in Gaza has soared to more than 34,500 people, according to local health officials, and the territory's entire population has been driven into a humanitarian catastrophe.

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HOSTAGE IN GAZA HAS DIED, HOSTAGES FAMILIES FORUM SAYS

TEL AVIV Dror Or, a 49-year-old held captive in Gaza, has died, the Hostages Families Forum said Friday. Or marks the 38th hostage killed, the forum said.

He and two of his children were abducted from Kibbutz Be'eri when Hamas attacked on October 7 and his wife, Yonat, was killed. His children, 17-year-old Noam and 13-year-old Alma, were released during a weeklong cease-fire in November.

Israel says Hamas is holding about 100 hostages and the remains of more than 30 others.

Israel and Hamas appear to be seriously negotiating an end to the war in Gaza and the return of Israeli hostages. A leaked truce proposal hints at compromises by both sides after months of talks languishing in a stalemate. Hamas said Thursday that it was sending a delegation to Egypt for further cease-fire talks, in a new sign of progress.

Some families worry that Israel's war aims of eliminating Hamas and launching an incursion into Gaza's southern city of Rafah will derail negotiations. Dozens of people demonstrated Thursday night outside Israel's military headquarters in Tel Aviv, demanding a deal to release the hostages.

US DEFENCE SECRETARY SAYS CONDITIONS ARE NOT FAVORABLE' FOR AN ISRAELI OPERATION IN RAFAH

HONOLULU United States Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, while at a news conference Thursday in Hawaii, was asked by a reporter what consequences Israel would face from the US if Israel conducted an offensive operation in Rafah without appropriately taking into account civilians in the area.

Austin said it would be up to President Joe Biden and he wouldn't speculate on that, but that currently, "conditions are not favourable to any kind of operation."

What we've highlighted for the Israelis is that it's really important to make sure that the civilians that are in that battle space move out of that battle space before any activity is conducted. And that if and when they return to any kind of operation that it be conducted in a more much more precise fashion, Austin said.

He noted there were about 275,000 people living in and around Rafah before the conflict started but there are now about 1.4 million.

That's a lot of people in a very small space. There's a good chance that without taking the right measures that we'll see a lot more civilian casualties going forward. So before anything happens, we certainly want to see them address that threat to the civilians, Austin said.

Right now, the conditions are not favourable to any kind of operation. And we've been clear about that. It is necessary to take care of the civilian population that's in that area before anything else happens, he said.