Middle East

NPR - “Utter devastation,” NPR’s Hadeel Al-Shalchi reports from Tel Aviv on Up First. A local civil defense group said yesterday that the Gaza City neighborhood of Shujaiya is uninhabitable. Fatima al-Da’ama tells Al-Shalchi that while her family told her to leave, she said what’s the point: “Since nowhere is safe, I’d rather die at home. At least I am familiar with my neighborhood.”  The stepped-up military activity comes as cease-fire negotiations look set to resume in Qatar with U.S., Egyptian and Qatari mediators. According to multiple sources close to the talks, Hamas appears to be shifting to a more gradual approach toward meeting its core demands in exchange for a six-week cease-fire, including a permanent end to the fighting and a full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.