Antony Blinken, the US Secretary of State, is expected to land in Israel this Sunday in efforts to broker a ceasefire in Gaza, ending the nearly one-year-long conflict between Israel and Hamas. This marks his tenth journey to the region since the war erupted in October of the previous year. The visit is timed just days after US, along with interlocutors Qatar and Egypt, proposed measures to bridge the differences between the conflicted factions.
US representatives express a newfound hope of concluding the deal, while also acknowledging the remaining tasks. As a senior official from the Biden administration stated on Friday, remaining differences have been bridged, moving the agreement closer to execution and progress.
Blinken’s schedule in Israel includes meetings with Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu and other high-ranking officials. The discussion is being held amid impending fears of a regional surge. Israel’s retaliation by Iran after its leader, Ismail Haniyeh’s assassination in Tehran on July 31st, has been declared a threat by Iran. However, the US has continuously discouraged Iran from taking any counteractive measures against Israel, predicting ‘cataclysmic’ results, especially for Iran.
The foreign ministers of the UK, France, Germany and Italy collectively expressed their backing for the ceasefire negotiations. They prompted all participating sides to refrain from any actions that could escalate the situation. The implementation of the agreement is slated to be discussed early next week, followed by a meeting of senior officials in Cairo, with an aim to finalise the agreement later in the same week in Cairo.
On Saturday, Israel’s negotiating team communicated cautious optimism about the advancement of the agreement via a statement from Mr Netanyahu’s office. Meanwhile, Hamas accused Mr Netanyahu of obstructing negotiations on Al Jazeera TV, stating that Israel had placed additional conditions on the ceasefire talks.
As optimism for a ceasefire increased, conflict continued unabated. A minimum of 17 Palestinians lost their lives and several others sustained injuries during an Israeli attack in Zawayda, a town in Gaza, on the weekend, as reported by health officials. Furthermore, due to proximate Hamas rocket fire, Israel issued fresh evacuation notices.
This recent spurt of violence, in the longstanding Israeli-Palestinian dispute, initiated on October 7th with an aggressive incursion by Hamas combatants into Israel. This resulted in approximately 1,200 deaths and around 250 individuals held hostage, as per Israeli records.
The following military offensive by Israel has drastically destroyed large parts of Gaza and led to the death of more than 40,000 Palestinians, the majority being non-combatants, say Palestinian health officials. Additionally, Israel claims to have eradicated 17,000 Hamas soldiers. – Reuters