Middle East conflict live updates: Harris calls for immediate cease-fire, urges more aid to Gaza

A Hamas delegation is in Cairo for talks on a deal that would pause fighting and release Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. Israel will not send a high-level delegation to Egypt until Hamas responds to questions about the framework of the deal, an Israeli official with knowledge of the negotiations told The Washington Post. The questions were about the number and identities of Hamas-held hostages and Israeli-detained prisoners, Israeli media reported.

Israel for months has resisted pressure from Washington to allow more aid into Gaza. The weekend scenes of U.S. airdrops highlighted the growing rift between the United States and Israel over the war, The Post reported. Dropping aid from planes is expensive and inefficient, but aid groups say Gaza is on the brink of famine.

At least 30,410 people have been killed and 71,700 injured in Gaza since the war began, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. Israel estimates that about 1,200 people were killed in Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack and says 246 soldiers have been killed since the start of its military operation in Gaza.