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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets Israeli President Isaac Herzog in Tel Aviv – Copyright AFP MUNIR UZ ZAMAN<\/small><\/em><\/p>\nJay Deshmukh with Shaun Tandon in Tel Aviv<\/em><\/p>\nTop US diplomat Antony Blinken urged Hamas to accept a truce in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to send troops into its far southern city of Rafah.<\/p>\n
Washington has heightened pressure on all sides to reach a ceasefire \u2014 a message pushed by Blinken, who was on his seventh regional tour since the Gaza war broke out in October.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven in these very difficult times we are determined to get a ceasefire that brings the hostages home \u2014 and to get it now,\u201d Blinken said as he met Israeli President Isaac Herzog in Tel Aviv.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd the only reason that that wouldn\u2019t be achieved is because of Hamas.\u201d<\/p>\n
Herzog\u2019s role is largely ceremonial but later Blinken was due to meet the hawkish Netanyhu to press US calls for a truce, more aid into Gaza and better protection for civilians.<\/p>\n
Hours before Blinken landed in Tel Aviv late Tuesday, the right-wing premier fired a shot across his bows, vowing to send Israeli ground troops into Rafah despite US concerns for the safety of the 1.5 million civilians sheltering in Gaza\u2019s far southern city.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will enter Rafah and we will eliminate the Hamas battalions there with or without a deal,\u201d he told families of some of the hostages still being held in Gaza, his office said.<\/p>\n
Netanyahu\u2019s comments came as Hamas was weighing the latest plan for a truce proposed in Cairo talks with US, Egyptian and Qatari mediators.<\/p>\n
The Palestinian militant group said it was considering a plan for a 40-day ceasefire and the exchange of scores of hostages for larger numbers of Palestinian prisoners.<\/p>\n
Hamas, whose envoys returned from Cairo talks to their base in Qatar, would \u201cdiscuss the ideas and the proposal\u201d, said a Hamas source, adding that \u201cwe are keen to respond as quickly as possible\u201d.<\/p>\n
Al-Qahera News, a site linked to Egyptian intelligence services, earlier reported that Hamas negotiators were due to\u00a0\u201creturn with a written response\u201d.<\/p>\n
An Israeli official told AFP the government \u201cwill wait for answers until Wednesday night\u201d, and then \u201cmake a decision\u201d whether to send envoys to Cairo.<\/p>\n
\u2013 New aid route \u2013<\/p>\n
On the previous leg of his regional tour in Jordan, Blinken said a Gaza truce and the redoubling of aid deliveries went hand in hand.<\/p>\n
A truce is \u201cthe most effective way to relieve the suffering\u201d of civilians in Gaza, he told reporters near Amman.<\/p>\n
Blinken saw off a first Jordanian truck convoy of aid heading to Gaza through the Erez crossing reopened by Israel.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is real and important progress, but more still needs to be done,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
UN agencies have warned that without urgent intervention, famine looms in Gaza, particularly in northern areas which are hardest to reach.<\/p>\n
A US-built floating pier on Gaza\u2019s coast is expected to be completed later this week, said Cyprus, the departure point for the planned \u201cmaritime corridor\u201d.<\/p>\n
Blinken said the pier would \u201csignificantly increase the assistance\u201d but was not \u201ca substitute\u201d for greater overland access.<\/p>\n
In northern Gaza\u2019s Beit Lahia, across from Erez crossing, 24-year-old farmer Yussef Abu Rabih was replanting plots he said had been \u201ccompletely destroyed\u201d by the fighting.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe decided to return to farming despite difficult conditions and scarce resources\u201d after suffering \u201csevere hunger\u201d, he told AFP.<\/p>\n
\u2013 \u2018Unbearable escalation\u2019 \u2013<\/p>\n
The war started after Hamas\u2019s October 7 attack on southern Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.<\/p>\n
Israel\u2019s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 34,535 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.<\/p>\n
Palestinian militants also took some 250 hostages on October 7. Israel estimates 129 remain in Gaza, including 34 believed to be dead.<\/p>\n
Washington has strongly backed its ally Israel but also pressured it to refrain from a ground invasion of Rafah, which is packed with displaced civilians.<\/p>\n
Calev Ben-Dor, a former analyst for the Israeli foreign ministry and now deputy editor for specialised review Fathom, told AFP that Netanyahu\u2019s \u201cRafah comments likely have more to do with trying to keep his coalition intact, rather than operational plans in the near term\u201d.<\/p>\n
The prime minister \u201cis feeling the squeeze between the Biden administration\u201d and far-right members of his government who have vehemently opposed the proposed truce, Ben-Dor said.<\/p>\n
Analyst Mairav Zonszein, of the International Crisis Group, said Netanyahu \u201csounds like someone who is not interested in a deal\u201d.<\/p>\n
UN chief Antonio Guterres said an Israeli assault on Rafah would \u201cbe an unbearable escalation, killing thousands more civilians and forcing hundreds of thousands to flee\u201d.<\/p>\n
At the British parliament, Deputy Foreign Secretary Andrew Mitchell said the government was \u201cdoing everything (it) can\u201d to prevent the offensive.<\/p>\n
The war and its toll on Palestinian civilians have sparked international outrage, but also political momentum in the search for a post-war solution to the wider Israeli-Palestinian conflict.<\/p>\n
European and Arab foreign ministers met in the Saudi capital on Monday to discuss how to join forces on advancing a two-state solution.<\/p>\n
To provide Israel with an incentive, Washington has pushed the prospect of normalised relations with Gulf kingpin Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n
Riyadh has demanded \u201cirreversible\u201d steps towards Palestinian statehood, which Netanyahu and many members of his hard-right government oppose.<\/p>\n
burs-jd\/kir\/dv<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
Blinken urges Hamas to agree Gaza truce as he meets Israel leaders
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#Blinken #urges #Hamas #agree #Gaza #truce #meets #Israel #leaders<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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