Middle East

CNN - Talks for a ceasefire in Gaza are still plodding along as more children succumb to starvation in the war-torn region. Negotiators gathered in Cairo on Sunday for talks on an Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal and the release of hostages from Gaza, but Israel did not send a delegation. Hamas has said it wants a permanent end to the fighting before hostages are released. Meanwhile, calls are growing in the US for an end to the violence. Vice President Kamala Harris on Sunday forcefully called for more humanitarian aid and urged Israel to do more to allow it into the enclave, saying that people are “starving” in the face of “inhumane” conditions. Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate, told CNN Sunday that killing in the region “has to stop.” 

NPR - Vice President Kamala Harris has called for an immediate, temporary cease-fire between Israel and Hamas to reunite hostages taken by Hamas with their families and provide more aid for Palestinians in Gaza. Harris called the situation in Gaza a "humanitarian catastrophe" while speaking at the annual commemoration of "Bloody Sunday" in Selma, Ala., a symbolic site in the U.S. fight for civil rights.  "Publicly, it's a more urgent plea from the U.S.," NPR's Daniel Estrin tells Up First. But he says the U.S. has all along wanted to start with a six-week cease-fire. Israel and Hamas have agreed to a basic framework of a deal. But Israel wants first to know how many hostages are still alive and how many prisoners Hamas will accept in exchange. Hamas, meanwhile, wants Palestinians to return to North Gaza and trailer homes brought in since many dwellings have been destroyed.