USA: It is time for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip

Washington will work with co-mediators Egypt and Qatar “in the coming days” “to reach a final agreement,” said US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller.

He spoke after Netanyahu rejected “concessions” in indirect negotiations with Hamas, despite growing domestic and international pressure following the Israeli military's recovery of six slain hostages from war-torn Palestinian territory.

“It’s time to get this deal done,” Miller said.

The United States on Tuesday filed a series of “terrorism” and other charges against six Hamas leaders in connection with the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel that sparked the war in Gaza.

The victims of the charges brought in February include Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and his predecessor Ismail Haniyeh, who was involved in ceasefire talks when he was killed in an attack blamed on Israel in July.

UN Human Rights Commissioner Volker Türk called for an “independent, impartial and transparent investigation” into reports that the six prisoners recovered dead in the Gaza Strip were summarily executed.

Despite growing grief and anger among Israelis who took to the streets to pressure the government and express concern about the fate of the hostages, Netanyahu said he would “not give in to pressure.”

The Israeli prime minister “has ruined our chances of reaching an agreement with Hamas to release our hostages alive,” Tel Aviv protester Jonathan Edan said on Tuesday.

“The only thing he wants to survive is his political career and his coalition,” the 26-year-old told AFP.

– 'Occupy indefinitely' –

Israel's prime minister said on Monday that “achieving the war aims” required control of the Philadelphia Corridor along the Gaza-Egypt border to prevent Hamas from rearming.

Egypt on Tuesday rejected allegations that the Gaza border was being used to arm Hamas and accused Netanyahu of trying to “divert Israeli public opinion and hinder the achievement of a ceasefire agreement.”

Saudi Arabia supported Cairo and expressed its “strong condemnation and rejection of Israel's statements on the Philadelphia Corridor” in a statement by its Foreign Ministry.

US President Joe Biden, who met with negotiators, answered “no” when asked if he thought Netanyahu was doing enough to reach a hostage deal.

Hamas has long called for a complete Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and Egyptian politicians oppose an Israeli military presence on the border.

Netanyahu “wants to occupy Gaza at some level indefinitely” and is now “just saying so more openly,” analyst Mairav ​​​​Zonszein told AFP.

Israel occupied the Gaza Strip in 1967 and stationed troops and settlers there until 2005, when it withdrew but imposed a crippling blockade and, since the beginning of the current war, a total siege.

In order to increase pressure on Israel, Britain announced on Monday that it would suspend certain arms exports, citing the “clear risk” that these weapons could be used to commit a serious violation of international humanitarian law.

On Tuesday, the civil defense spokesman in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip said two people were killed and 30 injured in an Israeli raid on a college.

The Israeli military said it had targeted “Hamas terrorists” at a college in Gaza City.

Civil defense, witnesses and AFP correspondents also reported air strikes and artillery fire in the south and center of the Gaza Strip.

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– Raids in the West Bank –

As Israeli forces continue their bombing campaign on Gaza, the military said on Wednesday it had intercepted “an enemy drone approaching Israel from the east,” the country bordering Jordan.

Soldiers also carried out a week-long assault in the occupied West Bank.

Israeli forces have killed at least 30 Palestinians across the northern West Bank since August 28, the territory's health ministry said. The Israeli military reported the death of one soldier in the “anti-terror” attacks.

Israeli troops have destroyed infrastructure and hampered medical services. The UN relief agency OCHA said Israeli forces repelled an attempt by troops to reach the community in Jenin on Tuesday.

An AFP journalist saw Palestinian medics attempt to get past Israeli troops to reach people trapped in the Jenin refugee camp, but then turn back.

“The situation is catastrophic,” said volunteer medic Faraj al-Jundi after being denied entry.

“We tried to help with what we could.”

– Vaccination campaign –

Israel's campaign against Hamas since October 7 has killed at least 40,819 people, according to the Gaza Strip's Health Ministry. The UN Office for Human Rights says most of the dead are women and children.

According to a count by the AFP news agency based on official Israeli figures, 1,205 people were killed in the Hamas attack on Israel, mostly civilians and also hostages killed during the hostage-taking.

Of the 251 hostages kidnapped by Palestinian militants during the attack, 97 remain in Gaza, including 33 who the Israeli military says are dead. Dozens were released during a week-long ceasefire in November – the only one so far.

Abu Obeida, spokesman for Hamas's armed wing, said on Monday that the remaining hostages would return “in coffins” if Israel maintained its military pressure on the area.

Gaza lies in ruins, the majority of the 2.4 million inhabitants have been forced to flee, often seeking refuge in cramped and unsanitary conditions. As a result, diseases have spread.

After the first confirmed case of polio in 25 years, a vaccination campaign began on Sunday amid localized “humanitarian pauses in fighting.”

More than 161,000 children in central Gaza have now received a first dose of vaccine, the World Health Organization announced on Tuesday. In total, more than 640,000 children are to be fully vaccinated.