The death toll in Gaza exceeds 58,000: How are peace negotiations between Israel and Hamas progressing?

The total death toll in the Gaza Strip from Israeli attacks reached 58,026 this past Saturday, the Gaza Ministry of Health reported in a statement, following the latest Israeli army attacks, which continue to intensify.

"Several victims remain under the rubble and in the streets, as ambulance and civil defense teams are currently unable to reach them," added health authorities for the Hamas-led government. Health officials estimate that some 2,500 bodies remain in hard-to-reach areas.

Added to this figure are at least 43 Gazans who have died since early Sunday morning in renewed Israeli bombings on various parts of the enclave.

AFP reported that at least 20 people, including 10 minors, were killed in an attack on a water distribution point in the northwest of the Nuseirat refugee camp, in the central Gaza Strip.

The Israeli army told Efe that the attack was aimed at an Islamic Jihad "terrorist" in central Gaza, but that a technical failure deflected the projectile "dozens of meters from the target." It added that it is investigating reports of possible civilian casualties.

Wafa also reported the deaths of ten people in a bombing attack on the home of the Al Arbid family in western Nuseirat; six more in Gaza City, further north; and three more in an attack on a displaced persons camp in Al Mawasi in the south of the enclave.

The Israeli military did not directly address these attacks, but said in a statement Sunday that it had "attacked more than 150 terrorist targets throughout the Gaza Strip" in the last day.

Twenty-one months have passed since the conflict began with a surprise attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in southern Israel, which left 1,219 dead on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official sources.

The Islamists also kidnapped 251 people that day. Forty-nine remain captive in Gaza, of whom 27 were declared dead by the army.

Israel then launched a military offensive to recover the hostages and completely eliminate the Hamas threat. To achieve this goal, they launched a full siege of the Gaza Strip.

The humanitarian situation is catastrophic , and the vast majority of the enclave's population, which numbers more than two million, has been forced to move more than once.

In a last-ditch attempt to negotiate a truce, delegations from Israel and Hamas began talks in the Qatari capital, Doha, last Sunday.

US President Donald Trump has pressured both sides to reach an agreement.

But a Palestinian source told AFP that the negotiations, in which the United States, Egypt, and Qatar are mediating, are encountering "complex obstacles and difficulties" due to Israel's refusal to withdraw from the territory.

This source highlighted Israel's "insistence" in adhering to a map that provides for "the maintenance of its forces in more than 40% of the Gaza Strip."

An Israeli official responded in the afternoon, accusing Hamas of refusing "to make concessions" and waging "psychological warfare aimed at sabotaging the negotiations."

In recent days, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reaffirmed that, with this war, his country seeks to free the hostages held in Gaza, destroy Hamas's military and governing capabilities, and expel the Palestinian Islamist movement from Gaza.

Weeks ago, Netanyahu claimed he wanted to take control of Palestinian territory.

"Hamas demands the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from all areas captured by Israel after March 2, 2025" in the Strip, another Palestinian source told AFP , accusing Israel of "delaying and obstructing the agreement, in order to continue its policy of war of extermination."

However, he reported "progress" on issues such as humanitarian aid and the exchange of hostages for Palestinian prisoners in Israel.

Meanwhile, the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian enclave threatens to deteriorate further.

Seven UN agencies warned in a joint statement on Saturday that fuel shortages in Gaza have reached "critical levels" and could constitute "a new unbearable burden for a population on the brink of starvation."