US pushes for ceasefire, Israeli strike kills 15
Published: 08:08 AM,Aug 18,2024 | EDITED : 11:08 AM,Aug 18,2024
Palestinian women mourn for the Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is set to arrive in Israel on Sunday as part of Washington's intensifying diplomatic push to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza that will end the 10-month-old war between Israel and Hamas.
The top US diplomat's tenth trip to the region since the war began in October last year comes days after the United States put forward bridging proposals that it and mediators Qatar and Egypt believe would close gaps between the warring parties.
US officials cite fresh optimism to bring the deal over the finish line but also caution that there is still work to be done.
'What we've done is taken the gaps that remain and have bridged those in a way that we think is a deal that is now ready to close and implement and move forward,' a senior Biden administration official told reporters on Friday.
In Israel, Blinken is expected to meet with the Israeli Prime Minister and other senior officials.
The negotiations are taking place in the shadow of a feared regional escalation.
Iran has threatened to retaliate against Israel after the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on July 31. Washington has repeatedly warned Iran not to go ahead with any retaliatory action against Israel.
At least 17 Palestinians were killed and dozens wounded in an Israeli strike in the Gaza town of Zawayda on Saturday, health officials said, as Israel issued new evacuation orders, citing Hamas rocket fire nearby.
The latest round of war in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict killed around 1,200 people and seized around 250 hostages according to Israeli tallies. Israel's subsequent military campaign has reduced much of Gaza to rubble and killed more than 40,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to Palestinian health authorities.
The top US diplomat's tenth trip to the region since the war began in October last year comes days after the United States put forward bridging proposals that it and mediators Qatar and Egypt believe would close gaps between the warring parties.
US officials cite fresh optimism to bring the deal over the finish line but also caution that there is still work to be done.
'What we've done is taken the gaps that remain and have bridged those in a way that we think is a deal that is now ready to close and implement and move forward,' a senior Biden administration official told reporters on Friday.
In Israel, Blinken is expected to meet with the Israeli Prime Minister and other senior officials.
The negotiations are taking place in the shadow of a feared regional escalation.
Iran has threatened to retaliate against Israel after the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on July 31. Washington has repeatedly warned Iran not to go ahead with any retaliatory action against Israel.
At least 17 Palestinians were killed and dozens wounded in an Israeli strike in the Gaza town of Zawayda on Saturday, health officials said, as Israel issued new evacuation orders, citing Hamas rocket fire nearby.
The latest round of war in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict killed around 1,200 people and seized around 250 hostages according to Israeli tallies. Israel's subsequent military campaign has reduced much of Gaza to rubble and killed more than 40,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to Palestinian health authorities.