Gaza battle rages as Blinken faces anger

TDT | agencies

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Israel battled into the fifth week yesterday of its war to crush Hamas, showing no signs of letting up even as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken faced a rising tide of anger in meetings with Arab foreign ministers.

Blinken reaffirmed US support for "humanitarian pauses" in the fighting in Gaza to ensure desperate civilians get help a day after Israel's hawkish Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave the idea short shrift.

Speaking at a news conference in Amman about sparing civilians and speeding up aid deliveries, the US top diplomat said: "The United States believes that all of these efforts will be facilitated by humanitarian pauses."

Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi called for all sides to work together to "stop a catastrophe that will haunt the region for generations".

The Israeli army said its troops had launched an operation in southern Gaza overnight, after deadly strikes hit an ambulance convoy and a school-turned-refugee shelter in the besieged Palestinian enclave.

Blinken is due to make a two-day visit to Turkey from Sunday, during which he will "underscore the importance of protecting civilian lives in Israel and the Gaza Strip", the US State Department said.

Israeli army yesterday sent text messages to Gazans saying the territory's main north-south road would be open for three hours in the afternoon so people can evacuate.

A key focus of Blinken's visit to Israel on Friday was to convince Netanyahu to enact "humanitarian pauses".

Netanyahu said later, however, that he would not agree to a "temporary truce" with Hamas until the Islamist group releases more than 240 Israeli and foreign hostages it abducted during its October 7 attack.

Blinken began the day in Amman by holding talks with Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani of Qatar, a mediator in the conflict.

He also had meetings scheduled with the foreign ministers of Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

The talks come amid mounting Arab anger over the civilian death toll from war, and increasing fears that the conflict could spread.