US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is traveling to the region this week in an effort to broker a ceasefire in the war between Israel and the Palestinian militant organization Hamas in the Gaza Strip and increase humanitarian aid. In addition, the Israeli army says it killed more than 40 fighters of the Islamist terrorist organization Hamas and arrested more than 200 terror suspects during the operation at Shifa Hospital in Gaza.
US Secretary of State Blinken will hold talks with representatives of Saudi Arabia in Jeddah on Wednesday before traveling to Cairo on Thursday, US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller announced on Tuesday. Talks with government representatives are also planned in Cairo.
Secretary of State Blinken will negotiate an “immediate ceasefire agreement” that “guarantees the release of all remaining hostages” – and “increased international efforts” to provide more humanitarian aid to the people of the Gaza Strip.
According to his spokesman, Miller, it should also be about “post-conflict planning,” including “ensuring that Hamas can no longer rule or repeat the October 7 attacks.” In addition, it should include a “political path for the Palestinian people with security guarantees for Israel and an architecture for lasting peace and security in the region.”
Together with Qatar, the US and Egypt are important mediating countries in the war between Israel and Hamas. Negotiations for a ceasefire and the release of hostages have been going on for weeks. There is apparently a proposal on the table at the moment for a six-week ceasefire and an exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners.
Israel killed more than forty Hamas militants
The Israeli army says it killed more than 40 fighters from the Islamist terrorist organization Hamas and arrested more than 200 terror suspects during the operation at Gaza’s Shifa hospital. Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari announced these figures on Monday evening. More than 20 terrorists were killed in the overnight operation in the hospital area, including Faiq al-Mabhouh, head of Hamas’s internal security department.
More than 20 Hamas fighters were eliminated around the clinic in the northern coastal city of Gaza, Hagari said. The Israeli military’s information could not initially be independently verified.
There was initially no official confirmation from Hamas about Al-Mabhouh’s death. The terrorist organization continues to fight systematically from hospitals and civilian facilities, using civilians and patients as human shields, the Israeli army spokesman said. It sought to rebuild its base at Shifa Hospital, the largest in Gaza, and use it as a refuge for fleeing terrorists. “We will not allow this and will strike wherever Hamas tries to regain control,” the army spokesman said.
To the background
The war in the Gaza Strip was sparked by Hamas’s major attack on Israel on October 7, which killed about 1,160 people and kidnapped about 250 others as hostages in the Gaza Strip, according to Israeli information.
Since then, Israel has taken massive military action in the Gaza Strip. More than 31,700 people have been killed so far, according to the Hamas-controlled Health Ministry, which cannot be independently verified.
Source: Krone
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