Gaza war rages as mediators study truce plan
US, Qatari and Egyptian mediators were studying a reply Palestinian Hamas issued late Tuesday, but there was no news of a breakthrough as it has insisted on a complete end to the war
Published: 04:06 PM,Jun 12,2024 | EDITED : 08:06 PM,Jun 12,2024
Palestinian men walk along a narrow street past destroyed buildings in Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip. — AFP
GAZA: Deadly fighting rocked Gaza on Wednesday as US top diplomat Antony Blinken on a Middle East tour pushed for an elusive truce and captives release deal to end the war raging since October 7.
US Secretary of State Blinken arrived in Qatar on his latest regional crisis tour, to promote a ceasefire deal outlined by President Joe Biden on May 31.
US, Qatari and Egyptian mediators were studying a reply Palestinian Hamas issued late Tuesday, but there was no news of a breakthrough as it has insisted on a complete end to the war, a demand rejected by Israel.
Palestinian groups said that their response calls for 'a complete halt to the ongoing aggression on Gaza'.
They proposed amendments including a ceasefire timeline and the complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, a source familiar with the talks said.
As the Gaza war has raged for more than eight months, claiming a spiralling civilian death toll in the besieged territory, deadly violence has also flared along Israel's northern border with Lebanon.
Israel's military also kept up its bombardment and ground operations inside Gaza, where the Baptist Hospital said a pre-dawn air strike killed seven people in a family house in Gaza City.
Further south, a child was killed and several wounded in an Israeli bombardment targeting a house in Rafah, a medic at Al-Nasser Hospital said. Air strikes and shelling also hit the city of Khan Yunis.
The Israeli military said that 'over the past day troops eliminated a number of armed terrorist cells in close-quarters encounters' in Rafah, and that the air force struck 'over 30 targets throughout the Gaza Strip'.
Biden on May 31 outlined what he called an Israeli plan that would start with a six-week ceasefire and the exchange of captives for Palestinian prisoners and, in three negotiated phases, lead to the rebuilding of Gaza. Washington has maintained that Israel is on board and has pushed Hamas to also agree, but neither party to the war has yet published its formal response.
Palestinian Hamas on Tuesday submitted its response to Qatar and Egypt, which passed it along to the United States. The group characterised its reply as 'responsible, serious and positive'.
Blinken sent two senior advisers to review the Hamas response with Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel, a US official said.
The secretary of state, on a four-country swing around the Middle East, was to later meet the top leadership of Qatar, which has transmitted messages to the Palestinian group. — AFP
US Secretary of State Blinken arrived in Qatar on his latest regional crisis tour, to promote a ceasefire deal outlined by President Joe Biden on May 31.
US, Qatari and Egyptian mediators were studying a reply Palestinian Hamas issued late Tuesday, but there was no news of a breakthrough as it has insisted on a complete end to the war, a demand rejected by Israel.
Palestinian groups said that their response calls for 'a complete halt to the ongoing aggression on Gaza'.
They proposed amendments including a ceasefire timeline and the complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, a source familiar with the talks said.
As the Gaza war has raged for more than eight months, claiming a spiralling civilian death toll in the besieged territory, deadly violence has also flared along Israel's northern border with Lebanon.
Israel's military also kept up its bombardment and ground operations inside Gaza, where the Baptist Hospital said a pre-dawn air strike killed seven people in a family house in Gaza City.
Further south, a child was killed and several wounded in an Israeli bombardment targeting a house in Rafah, a medic at Al-Nasser Hospital said. Air strikes and shelling also hit the city of Khan Yunis.
The Israeli military said that 'over the past day troops eliminated a number of armed terrorist cells in close-quarters encounters' in Rafah, and that the air force struck 'over 30 targets throughout the Gaza Strip'.
Biden on May 31 outlined what he called an Israeli plan that would start with a six-week ceasefire and the exchange of captives for Palestinian prisoners and, in three negotiated phases, lead to the rebuilding of Gaza. Washington has maintained that Israel is on board and has pushed Hamas to also agree, but neither party to the war has yet published its formal response.
Palestinian Hamas on Tuesday submitted its response to Qatar and Egypt, which passed it along to the United States. The group characterised its reply as 'responsible, serious and positive'.
Blinken sent two senior advisers to review the Hamas response with Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel, a US official said.
The secretary of state, on a four-country swing around the Middle East, was to later meet the top leadership of Qatar, which has transmitted messages to the Palestinian group. — AFP