Antony Blinken, the Secretary of State for the US, is set to engage with Israeli Prime Minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, amid escalating pressure from both the US and European Union to call an urgent truce in the conflict between Israel and Hamas. As the principal supporter of Israel, the US has scheduled to put forth a resolution, advocating for an instantaneous ceasefire in Gaza, to the UN Security Council vote. Despite frequently utilising its veto power to block similar resolutions, the US has announced its plan to propose this resolution on Friday, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).
China, a permanent council member with veto capabilities, revealed its support for any measures undertaken by the UN Security Council to halt the Gaza conflict, however, Beijing refrained from confirming whether it would back the US draft resolution, AFP reports. Observations indicate a growing urgency in Washington’s stance reflected in Friday’s proposed draft resolution – a first from the Biden administration – calling for an “immediate ceasefire”, albeit still coupling the truce with a hostage deal.
In light of David Barnea, Israel’s intelligence head, scheduled to journey to Qatar to engage with ceasefire negotiators, the US action is deemed significant. Blinken, during his Thursday address in Cairo, emphasised that a substantial Israeli ground attack on Rafah, a southern Gaza town, would be mistaken and not required to defeat Hamas. This assertion underscores the deteriorating relationship between Israel and the US.
With Blinken undertaking his sixth emergency trip to the Middle East since the conflict’s October inception, it is speculated that growing discord between both Netanyahu and US President, Joe Biden, concerning the war’s prosecution may overshadow forthcoming discussions.
EU leaders have managed to set aside their disagreements to request an “immediate humanitarian break leading to a lasting ceasefire” in Gaza. This appeal, pronounced at a late-night Brussels summit on Thursday, signifies the first agreed declaration on the Middle East by European leaders since October.
Meanwhile, in Gaza, Al-Shifa hospital, northern enclave’s only moderately operational medical institution, remains under continuous attack from Israel. While Israel anticipates these attacks to persist for a few more days, it also alleges that Hamas gunmen are occupying the medical complex, a claim Hamas has directly refuted.