CAIRO: An Israeli air strike on an apartment in southern Gaza killed at least six people on Tuesday, Palestinian health officials said, as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Egypt to pursue a quest for a truce deal amidst ongoing relentless Israeli bombardment since October 7.
Israeli forces killed dozens of Palestinians throughout Gaza in the past 24 hours, with attacks focused on Khan Younis in the south. Meanwhile, a threatened Israeli attack looming on a nearby border town, Rafah, teeming with displaced Palestinian people.
On Tuesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken headed for meetings in Cairo during his latest trouble-shooting Middle East swing Palestinians hope will clinch a ceasefire before Israeli forces storm Gaza Strip’s southern fringes where over a million of Gaza’s residents are sheltering Israeli bombing.
It was Blinken’s fifth trip to the region since October 7, when Israel launched a relentless bombardment campaign in the besieged Gaza Strip, and his first visit since Washington brokered an offer for the first extended ceasefire of the conflict.
Washington seeks a deal to secure the release of remaining Israeli hostages as key to making headway on broader challenges such as the governance of post-war Gaza.
The ceasefire offer, delivered to Hamas last week by Egyptian and Qatari mediators, awaits a reply from Hamas, who say they want more guarantees it will stop Israel’s blitz on Gaza, against Israeli vows to continue bombardment until Hamas is wiped out.
In an update on Tuesday, the Gaza Strip’s Health Ministry said at least 27,585 Palestinians, mostly women, and children, had been confirmed killed in Israel’s ground and aerial strikes, with thousands more feared buried under vast tracts of rubble across the densely populated besieged enclave. Over 107 people had been killed in the past 24 hours, the health ministry said.
Israel Continues Bombardment in Khan Younis
Meanwhile, Israeli forces on Tuesday kept up the pressure on Khan Younis city, the focus of its attacks for weeks, causing many more deaths and injuries, including the six dead from the air strike on the apartment, Palestinian residents told Reuters.
They said Israeli aircraft and tanks continued to pound and besiege areas around the two main hospitals of Khan Younis – Nasser and Al-Amal.
Rafah, Palestinians’ last southern refuge from Israeli advances towards the border with Egypt, was battered by several Israeli air strikes and tank shelling overnight. In Gaza City in the north of the enclave, residents reported more Israeli air strikes and tank shelling.
During his trouble-shooting Middle East swing, Antony Blinken also aims to win backing for US plans for what would follow a Gaza ceasefire: rebuilding and running the besieged Palestinian territory and, ultimately, for a Palestinian state.
Blinken has held a meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. Egypt warned any Israeli military deployment along the border would threaten the peace treaty the two sides inked more than four decades ago.
According to US officials, the US secretary of state is hoping to get an update on Hamas’s response to a ceasefire proposal in both Qatar and Egypt.
