JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday implied that the focus of ceasefire efforts in Gaza is shifting towards a comprehensive agreement to release all remaining hostages at once, rather than through phased releases.

Last week, Arab officials informed The Associated Press that mediators from Egypt and Qatar were developing a new framework aimed at facilitating the release of all remaining hostages simultaneously in exchange for a lasting ceasefire and the withdrawal of Israeli troops.

The long-standing indirect negotiations seemed to have broken down the previous month. However, on Tuesday, a Hamas delegation arrived in Cairo for ceasefire discussions, according to Egypt’s state-run Qahera news channel, indicating that diplomatic efforts persist after 22 months of conflict.

Israel has issued threats to expand its military campaign against Hamas into the parts of Gaza it has not yet occupied, which is also where the majority of the area’s 2 million residents have taken shelter.

These plans have drawn international condemnation and domestic criticism within Israel and may be intended to put pressure on Hamas to agree to a ceasefire. The militants currently keep 50 hostages captured during the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that initiated the war, and Israel believes that approximately 20 of them remain alive.

‘I want all of them’

In an interview broadcast Tuesday on Israel’s i24 News network, Netanyahu was asked whether the opportunity for a partial ceasefire deal had passed. Egyptian Foreign Ministry official Badr Abdelatty told reporters that Cairo continues to push for an earlier proposal that includes an initial 60-day ceasefire, the release of some hostages, and an increase in humanitarian aid, with further discussions on a long-term truce to follow.

“I think it’s behind us,” Netanyahu replied. “We tried, we made all kinds of attempts, we went through a lot, but it turned out that they were just misleading us.”

“I want all of them,” he said of the hostages. “The release of all the hostages, both alive and dead — that’s the stage we’re at.”

He added, however, that Israel’s demands haven’t changed, and that the war will end only when all hostages are returned and Hamas has surrendered. He has said that even then, Israel will maintain open-ended security control over the territory.

Hamas has long called for a comprehensive deal but says it will only release the remaining hostages in return for the release of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel, a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. The militant group has refused to lay down its arms, as Israel has demanded.

UN warns about starvation, malnutrition

The United Nations on Tuesday warned that starvation and malnutrition in Gaza are at the highest levels since the war began.

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric reported the warning from the World Food Program and said Gaza’s Health Ministry told U.N. staff in Gaza that five people died over the last 24 hours from malnutrition and starvation.

The ministry says 121 adults and 101 children have died of malnutrition-related causes during the war.

“Against this backdrop, humanitarian supplies entering Gaza remain far below the minimum required to meet people’s immense needs,” Dujarric said.

The U.N. and its humanitarian partners are doing everything possible to bring aid into Gaza, he said, but still face significant delays and impediments from Israeli authorities that prevent the delivery of food and other essentials at the scale needed.

Hamas-led militants abducted 251 people and killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in that 2023 attack. Most of the hostages have been released in ceasefires or other deals.

Israel’s air and ground offensive has since displaced most of Gaza’s population, destroyed vast areas and pushed the territory toward famine. It has killed more than 61,400 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not say how many were fighters or civilians but says around half were women and children.

The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals. The U.N. and independent experts consider it the most reliable source on war casualties. Israel disputes its figures but has not provided its own.

Israel says it struck militants disguised as aid workers

In a separate development, the Israeli military said it recently struck a group of militants in Gaza who were disguised as aid workers and using a car with the logo of international charity World Central Kitchen.

The army said it carried out an airstrike on the men after confirming with the charity that they were not affiliated with it and that the car did not belong to it.

World Central Kitchen confirmed that the men and the vehicle were not affiliated with it. “We strongly condemn anyone posing as World Central Kitchen or other humanitarians, as this endangers civilians and aid workers,” it said in a statement.

The military shared video footage showing several men in yellow vests standing around a vehicle with the charity’s logo on its roof. The military said five of the men were armed.

The charity, founded in 2010, dispatches teams that can quickly provide meals on a mass scale in conflict zones and after natural disasters.

In April, an Israeli strike killed seven World Central Kitchen workers in Gaza. Israel quickly admitted it had mistakenly killed the aid workers and launched an investigation.

In November, an Israeli strike killed five people, including a World Central Kitchen worker who Israel said was part of the Hamas attack that sparked the war. The charity said at the time that it was unaware the employee had any connection to the attack.