US urges ‘immediate ceasefire’ and deal to release hostages in Gaza

AFP | Cairo       

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

The US top diplomat stressed yesterday the need for an “immediate ceasefire” and a deal to free hostages in war-torn Gaza as he visited Egypt for talks with Arab envoys.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, on his latest Middle East crisis tour, was trying to shore up support for a truce as the Israel-Hamas war ground on and experts issued a further warning about the risk of famine in Gaza.

Washington, Israel’s top ally, has hardened its tone in recent weeks and circulated for the first time a draft UN Security Council resolution calling for an “immediate” end to the fighting. However, the Israeli bombardment of Gaza has continued with at least 70 people killed overnight, pushing the overall toll towards 32,000, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.

Gaza’s biggest hospital has emerged as a major flashpoint after Israel launched a days-long raid on Monday that it said had killed more than 140 Hamas fighters by yesterday. Israel said Hamas fighters were hiding out at the vast Al-Shifa hospital complex and civilians had not been harmed.

Hamas said the ongoing attack on an area crowded with patients and people seeking refuge was a crime. AFP images showed streams of people fleeing south from the hospital along Gaza’s coast. A 60-year-old patient who gave his name as Younis said he had been forced outside without clothes, blindfolded and interrogated before being freed. The soldiers “beat all the young men and arrested them,” Younis told AFP.

Veto

The US has vetoed previous UN Security Council texts on the war, objecting even last month to the term “immediate” in a draft submitted by Algeria. A new version circulated by the US and seen by AFP stressed “the need for an immediate and durable ceasefire” to protect civilians and allow aid into the territory.

No vote has been scheduled on the text but Blinken told Saudi media outlet Al Hadath on Wednesday that universal support for the resolution would send a “strong message”.