Cairo/Amman/Jerusalem:
Top US and European diplomats urged Middle East leaders on Sunday to stop the Gaza war from spreading across the region, but three months into the conflict, more bloodshed underlined the challenge as Israel presses ahead with its offensive. Is.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the EU’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, were on separate trips to the region to try to prevent the spread of the war into Lebanon, the West Bank and Red Sea shipping routes where Yemen’s Iran- The coalition has captured the Houthis. They said they would continue attacks until Israel ceases its operations in the Palestinian territories.
“We remain deeply focused on preventing the spread of this conflict,” Blinken said at the start of his visit. He was in Jordan on Sunday and will later travel to Qatar, Israel, the West Bank, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
A palace statement said Jordan’s King Abdullah urged Blinken to use Washington’s influence on Israel to press for an immediate ceasefire, and warned him about the “devastating consequences” of Israel’s continued military campaign. Gave.
Al Jazeera journalist Wael al-Dahdouh poses with his daughter and son while attending the funeral of his son, Palestinian journalist Hamza al-Dahdouh, after Hamza was killed in an Israeli strike in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, on January 7, 2024. Hugs his son. Photo: Reuters
Despite global concern over the death and destruction in Gaza and widespread calls for a ceasefire, Israeli public opinion remains firmly behind the operation aimed at eliminating the Hamas group that rules Gaza, despite Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s There has been a sharp decline in support for.
He has vowed to continue the retaliation.
“The war must not stop until we achieve all our goals – eliminating Hamas, returning all our hostages and ensuring that Gaza no longer poses a threat to Israel,” Netanyahu said at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting. Will do.” sunday. “I say this to both our enemies and our friends.”
According to Israeli officials, approximately 1,200 people were killed on October 7 and 240 were taken hostage. More than 100 hostages are still believed to be held by Hamas.
Also read: Six Palestinians, one Israeli killed in clashes in West Bank: Officials
For Israelis, the deadliest day in the country’s history and the details of the atrocities that followed felt like its very existence was in danger.
Palestinian health officials said on Sunday that Israeli attacks have so far hit 22,835 Palestinians in Gaza, with 111 dead and 250 wounded in the past 24 hours.
Two Palestinian journalists were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a car near Rafah in southern Gaza on Sunday, according to Gaza health officials and the Gaza Journalists Association.
Separately, the Health Ministry said Israeli drones had fired on buildings at the Shuhada al-Aqsa hospital in the central Gaza Strip.
Read: Firing on Lebanon border between Israel, Hezbollah amid fear of Gaza war spreading
There were no reports of injuries, but ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra accused Israel of trying to undermine work at the hospital, which serves thousands of Palestinians in central Gaza – heavily damaged over the past two weeks. Focus of Israeli ground and air attacks.
Israel has denied targeting civilians and has said that Hamas fighters deliberately hide themselves among the civilian population. Hamas, which is backed by Iran and has vowed the destruction of Israel, denies this.
The fighting has displaced most of Gaza’s 2.3 million population, leaving many homes and civilian infrastructure in ruins amid severe shortages of food, water and medicine.
“We hope that … Blinken will look at us with compassion, end the war, end the suffering that We will end what we are living in.”
blinken’s visit
Meeting with King Abdullah in Amman, Blinken expressed “US opposition to the forced displacement of Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza and the critical need to protect Palestinian civilians in the West Bank from extremist violence,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement. Emphasized on.”
A senior State Department official said Blinken is next in Doha, where he will discuss efforts with Qatar’s leaders to free the hostages, who are still believed to be held after the collapse of an earlier Qatar-brokered deal. Are under the control of Hamas.
They will also aim to pressure hesitant Muslim countries in the Middle East to agree to play a role in Gaza’s reconstruction, governance and security if Israel succeeds in eliminating Hamas, an official said. he said.
Gun fighting intensified in the southern Gaza city of Khan Yunis as well as in the densely populated central districts of the area. Health officials at Nasser Hospital said on Sunday that 50 people were killed in Israeli attacks on homes in the city.
Outside Gaza, more violence occurred in the occupied West Bank. Israeli aircraft fired on Palestinian fighters attacking troops in the area, the army said, and Palestinian health officials said seven Palestinians were killed in the attack.
An Israeli border police officer was killed and others were wounded after being hit by an explosive device during an operation in the West Bank city of Jenin, the army and police said.
Israeli police killed a young Palestinian girl in a car at a West Bank crossing after they opened fire on a suspect suspected of attacking another car, Israeli emergency services said.
The West Bank had already seen the highest levels of unrest in decades during the 18 months preceding the Gaza war, and the conflict has escalated since then. Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed in clashes with Israeli troops and settlers in the past weeks.
