BEIRUT: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Israel on Sunday seeking a Gaza ceasefire deal that could help avert a wider regional war, while a senior Hamas official dismissed “American diktats” in negotiations, AFP reported.
Making his ninth trip to the Middle East since Israel launched a relentless bombardment campaign in Gaza on October 7, the secretary of state is due to meet Israeli leaders before truce talks resume in Cairo.
US, Qatari and Egyptian mediators have reported progress in negotiations to clinch a ceasefire in Gaza, and a US official said remaining gaps were “bridgeable” but the situation remains fraught with challenges.
The framework proposed by US President Joe Biden in late May, which has been endorsed by the UN Security Council, includes provisions for a temporary freeze on fighting, an exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners, and the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza.
However, a senior Hamas leader Sami Abu Zuhri criticized the negotiations, claiming that they amounted to the imposition of American terms rather than genuine dialogue. “What we are witnessing is not real negotiations but rather an imposition of American diktats,” Abu Zuhri told AFP, casting doubt on the optimism surrounding a potential deal.
The humanitarian situation in Gaza has deteriorated significantly, exacerbated by recent events and ongoing Israeli violence. The Gaza Strip is grappling with a severe crisis, including a feared polio outbreak and widespread shortages of clean water and food. Israeli evacuation orders have drastically reduced the safe zones in southern Gaza, leaving displaced residents in dire conditions.
Samah Dib, a displaced resident, described the bleak situation, noting the scarcity of essentials and the severe impact on daily life. Israeli evacuation orders have “reduced the safe zone” in the south of the territory, leaving “no more space” for displaced Palestinians, said Samah Dib.
Some people “are sleeping on the street” while clean water is scarce and “there’s food at the markets, but it is very expensive and we have no money left”, added Dib, one of those displaced.
Previous optimism during months of on-off truce talks has proven unfounded. But the stakes have risen since the late July killings of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.
Iran and its regional allies have vowed retaliation for Haniyeh’s death in Tehran and for an Israeli strike in Beirut that killed a top Hezbollah commander.
Diplomats have been shuttling around the region to push for a Gaza deal, which they see as the best way to avert a wider conflagration following the high-profile killings.
As efforts towards a long-sought truce continued, so has the violence in Gaza but also in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and in Lebanon. Israeli forces and Hezbollah have engaged in near-daily exchanges of fire.
In Lebanon, the official National News Agency reported an Israeli air raid on a southern village. The UN said three peacekeepers were lightly wounded in a blast nearby.
The Israeli bombardment of Gaza has killed at least 40,099 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s health ministry. Reports indicate that Israeli airstrikes have targeted various locations, including a deadly attack on the Al-Zawaida area, where 15 people were killed.
Civil defence rescuers in Gaza reported seven killed in Israeli bombardment in Deir al-Balah and four others in air strikes on the northern Jabalia refugee camp.
The diplomatic push for a ceasefire is being closely watched by the international community. The US State Department said that Blinken’s visit aims to finalize an agreement for a ceasefire and the release of hostages.
Out of 251 hostages taken during the Hamas attack, 111 remain in Gaza, with some reportedly deceased. Efforts to negotiate a truce have seen some success in the past, including a brief one-week ceasefire in November that allowed the release of more than 100 hostages.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called for increased pressure on Hamas leaders to reach a breakthrough in Gaza ceasefire.
Mediators announced they had put forward a “bridging proposal”, and talks are due to resume in the Egyptian capital in the coming days.
Meanwhile, protests within Israel reflect growing public frustration over the ongoing conflict and the lack of progress in negotiations.
At a rally in the northern Israeli city of Haifa on Saturday, 51-year-old Guri Lotto said he was protesting to “put pressure on the government” to secure a hostage release deal and end the war.
