The head of American diplomacy, Antony Blinken, affirmed this Wednesday that it is still possible to reach a truce and an agreement to release hostages to end the war between Hamas and Israelwhich continues to devastate the Gaza Strip.
For its part, the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah, an ally of Hamas, launched a barrage of projectiles towards northern Israel, a day after an Israeli attack killed one of its senior officials.
Blinken was on his tour of the Middle East in Qatar, one of the mediators in the conflict along with the United States and Egypt that are currently examining Hamas’s response to the plan for a ceasefire in the Palestinian territory.
Among the demands of the Palestinian Islamist movement, “Some changes are doable, others are not.”, declared the American Secretary of State.
Osama Hamdana senior official in the Islamist movement, told AFP that the proposed amendments require “a permanent ceasefire and complete withdrawal” of Israeli troops from Gaza, Israel rejects requirements.
The plan, announced by Biden and backed by the UN Security Council and Arab powers, contemplates in a first phase a six-week ceasefire, the exchange of hostages for Palestinian prisoners, the withdrawal of the Israeli army from the populated areas of Gaza and the entry of humanitarian aid.
“We are determined to try to fill the gaps. And I think those gaps can be remedied.“, he indicated Blinkenadding that it depends on Hamas.
The United States presented the proposal as an Israeli initiative, but the prime minister Benjamin Netanyahuwhose government has far-right members who strongly oppose the agreement, has not yet formally endorsed it.
Netanyahu’s office indicated that he was going to call a “security assessment” on Wednesday “in light of the events in the north and the negative response of Hamas on the issue of the release of the hostages.”
Bombings and clashes
The war in Gaza, which has now entered its ninth month, also led to a spike in tensions on Israel’s border with Lebanon.
The Israeli army announced that some 150 rockets were fired from Lebanon towards Israel on Wednesday morning, after an Israeli strike killed a Hezbollah commander the day before in southern Lebanon.
Some were shot down and others hit Israel, causing fires, said the same source, which did not report any casualties.
Hezbollah also claimed responsibility for more than 10 other attacks against the Israeli army, one of them using drones.
The head of its executive committee, Hashem Safieddin, stated that the movement “will increase [sus] operations in intensity, power, number and quality.”
Blinken I affirm that “The best way” to resolve the usual clashes between Hezbollah and the Israeli army is “resolve the conflict in Gaza and reach a ceasefire.”
The war broke out on October 7 when Islamist militants killed 1,194 people and kidnapped 251 in southern Israel, according to a toll based on official Israeli data.
The Israeli army estimates that 116 hostages remain captive in Gaza, although 41 of them are believed to be dead.
The operation launched by Israel against Gaza has left 37,202 dead, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, ruled by Hamas.
“Crimes against humanity”
The Hostage Families Forum urged Israel to send negotiators as soon as possible, warning that “Any delay could jeopardize the possibility of reaching an agreement.”
Some inhabitants of Loop They called on Hamas to do more to secure an agreement.
“Hamas does not see that we are tired, dead, destroyed“, a man in Gaza, who gave his name as Abu Shaker, told AFP.
“What are you waiting for?”he added. “The war must end no matter what the cost”.
Israeli forces maintain their operations in the Strip, where a witness stated that “air and artillery bombardments” in Rafah.
A child died in the bombing of his house in this city in the south of the territory, said a doctor at the Nasser hospital. There was also artillery fire in the nearby city of Khan Yunis, according to witnesses.
In the north, the Civil Defense reported at least four deaths in the bombing of a house in Gaza City, where a hospital had previously reported seven deaths.
The Israeli offensive led a UN commission of inquiry to consider that Israel is responsible for “crimes against humanity“, including that of “extermination”, in the Gaza Strip.
The commission also accused Israeli authorities and seven Palestinian armed groups, including the armed wing of Hamas, of war crimes.
The Israeli embassy in Geneva pointed out to the commission for “systematic discrimination” against him.
The Secretary General of the UN, Antonio Guterres, declared that the conflict has registered ““an unprecedented level of destruction and number of victims among the Palestinian population.”
The World Health Organization (WHO) indicated that more than 8,000 children under five years of age were treated for acute malnutrition in Gaza.
“Despite reports of increased food delivery, there is currently no evidence that those who need it most are receiving food in sufficient quantity and quality” declared the director of the WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Source: Gestion
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