Israel battled into the fifth week Saturday 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.
However, US President Joe Biden said progress had been made on securing a so-called “humanitarian pause”, without elaborating.
At a news conference in Amman about sparing civilians and speeding up aid deliveries, Blinken said: “The United States believes that all of these efforts will be facilitated by humanitarian pauses.”
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, whose country has been acting as the sole conduit for foreigners to escape the Gaza Strip and for aid to get in, called for an “immediate and comprehensive ceasefire”.
Hamas said late Saturday the evacuation of dual nationals and foreigners from Gaza was being suspended until Israel lets some wounded Palestinians reach Rafah so they can cross the border for hospital treatment in Egypt.
Israeli chief of staff Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi visited troops inside Gaza on Saturday after they completed encirclement of its largest city.
A Gazan carries the covered body of a child killed in bombardment of Khan Yunis on November 4
Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said Israeli forces were fighting “hard” inside Gaza. He said they were “operating from south and north (of Gaza City) and have entered populated areas”.
Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas in punishment for its brutal October 7 attack on communities and military outposts near the Gaza border, which killed more than 1,400 people, mainly civilians.
- Netanyahu ‘written off’ -
The health ministry in Gaza, which is run by Hamas, says more than 9,480 Gazans, mostly women and children, have been killed in Israeli strikes and the intensifying ground campaign.
The ministry said at least 12 people had been killed when Israel struck a United Nations school where thousands of displaced Palestinians were sheltering.
“Bombs were falling on us, people got cut into pieces,” said Sajda Maarouf, a Palestinian woman sheltering in the school. “We want a truce, please, we are exhausted.”
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators rally in London's Trafalgar Square calling for an immediate ceasefire in the conflict between Israel and Hamas
The fighting has provoked anti-Israeli protests around the world, and political opposition from key regional powers, including influential Turkey, which on Saturday recalled its ambassador from Israel.
Palestinian ally Turkey had been mending torn relations with Israel until last month’s start of the Israel-Hamas war.
But Ankara’s tone hardened against both Israel and its Western supporters – particularly the United States – as the fighting escalated and the death toll among Palestinian civilians soared.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters he held Netanyahu personally responsible for the growing civilian death toll in Gaza.
“Netanyahu is no longer someone we can talk to. We have written him off,” Turkish media quoted Erdogan as saying.
Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Lior Haiat said the move was “another step by the Turkish president that sides with the Hamas terrorist organisation”.
Hamas hailed the move and urged Ankara to “put pressure on President (Joe) Biden and his administration” so that “humanitarian and medical help can reach our besieged people in the Gaza Strip”.
Blinken is to begin a two-day visit to Turkey on Sunday, the US State Department said. Thousands demonstrated in Istanbul on Saturday against his visit.
Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan on Saturday took part in a Arab-US meeting on Gaza held in the Jordanian capital, Amman, the Kingdom’s Foreign Ministry said.
The meeting discussed the Arab position, which calls for an “immediate cessation of military operations that have led to the loss of innocent lives, and urgent delivery of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip,” the ministry said in a statement.
The meeting also discussed efforts to “create a stable environment and restore the path to peace, ensuring that the Palestinian people obtain their legitimate rights and the achievement of a just and lasting peace.”
Gaza health officials said on Saturday that more than 9,488 Palestinians have been killed, including more than 3,900 children, in Gaza so far since Israel began bombarding the besieged enclave with relentless attacks in response to a surprise attack by Hamas on Oct. 7.
The overall death toll is likely to rise dramatically as the assault on densely built Gaza City continues, disrupting life for millions of people and forcing almost 250,000 to evacuate.
Meanwhile, Prince Faisal also took part in an Arab coordination meeting in Amman, which aimed to unify efforts to stop the Israeli war on Gaza and a subsequent humanitarian crisis in the region.
“The meeting focused on the alarming situation in Gaza and its surrounding areas and the international community’s urgent role in putting an end to military operations in the region to prevent the killing of innocent civilians and pave the way for a fair and comprehensive solution that meets the aspirations of the Palestinian people,” the ministry said.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken made his third trip to Israel since the war began, reiterating American support for Israel's campaign to crush Hamas after its brutal October 7 attack in southern Israel. He also echoed President Joe Biden's calls for a brief halt in the fighting to address a worsening humanitarian crisis.
Alarm has grown over spiralling Palestinian deaths and deepening misery for civilians from weeks of Israeli bombardment and a widening ground assault that risks even greater casualties. Overwhelmed hospitals say they are nearing collapse, with medicine and fuel running low under the Israeli siege. About 1.5 million people in Gaza, or 70% of the population, have fled their homes, the UN said on Saturday.
Palestinians are increasingly desperate for the most basic supplies.
The average Gaza resident is now surviving on two pieces of bread per day, much of it made from stockpiled UN flour, said Thomas White, Gaza director for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees. Demands for drinking water are also growing.
“People are beyond looking for bread,” he told UN diplomats in a video briefing from Gaza. "It's looking for water.”
After talks with Netanyahu, Blinken said a temporary halt was needed to boost aid deliveries and help win the release of the hostages Hamas took during its brutal incursion nearly a month ago.
But Netanyahu said he told Blinken that Israel was “going with full steam ahead," unless hostages are released.
