GAUZE:
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken is set to hear Arab demands for a ceasefire at a meeting in Jordan on Saturday as Israel continues its barbaric bombardment of the besieged Palestinian enclave.
Gaza health officials said 15 people were killed in an Israeli airstrike on an ambulance. At least 9,250 Palestinians lost their lives in barbaric Israeli attacks.
The ambulance hit by the Israeli strike was part of a convoy carrying wounded Palestinians to Gaza’s largest hospital, al-Shifa, health officials in the Hamas enclave said on Friday.
“After arriving in al-Shifa, (Israel) directly targeted the second vehicle of the convoy, committing a terrible massacre that claimed the lives of 15 and injured more than 60,” said health ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Kindra.
The Israeli military claimed to have identified and hit an ambulance “used by a Hamas cell” and that a number of Hamas fighters were killed.
“We emphasize that this area is a combat zone. Civilians in the area are repeatedly asked to evacuate to the south for their own safety,” the Israeli military said.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health questioned Israel over the bombing of the ambulance and demanded that it provide proof that the ambulance was carrying militants.
“The occupation carried out an ugly massacre in which … 15 people were killed and another 60 people were injured, including some displaced people,” al-Qidra said.
The Israeli military did not provide evidence to support its claim that the ambulance was linked to Hamas, but said it intended to release additional information.
Israel has accused Hamas of hiding command centers and tunnel entrances to al-Shifa, which Hamas and the hospital deny.
Israel last month ordered all civilians to leave the northern part of the Gaza Strip, including Gaza City, and head to the south of the enclave, which it also continued to shell.
Living conditions in Gaza, already miserable before the fighting, have further deteriorated. Food is scarce, residents have resorted to drinking salt water, medical services are collapsing.
On Friday morning, an Israeli airstrike killed three people, including two women, in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, according to Gaza health officials.
The UN humanitarian agency OCHA estimates that nearly 1.5 million of Gaza’s 2.3 million people are internally displaced.
“Continuing with full force”
Hamas has prepared for a protracted war in Gaza and believes it can stall Israel’s advance long enough to force its arch-enemy to agree to a ceasefire, two sources close to the group’s leadership said.
The group believes international pressure on Israel to end the siege could force a ceasefire and negotiated settlement in which the militant group receives a tangible concession, such as the release of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Israeli hostages, the group said. sources.
On a visit to the region, Blinken met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday and called for a humanitarian ceasefire that he said would facilitate the release of hostages, allow aid to Gaza, but not prevent Israel from defending itself.
In a televised speech, Netanyahu rejected the idea of a pause unless the hostages were freed.
“I made it clear that we are continuing with full force and that Israel refuses a temporary ceasefire that does not include the release of our hostages,” Netanyahu said.
A senior Biden administration official said Friday that the US had an “indirect commitment” to freeing the hostages.
On Saturday Blinken is scheduled to meet with the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the Emirates and Egypt, as well as Palestinian representatives in Amman, the Jordanian foreign ministry said.
The Arab leaders will emphasize the “Arab position calling for an immediate ceasefire, provision of humanitarian aid and ways to end the dangerous escalation that threatens the security of the region,” the ministry said in a statement.
Washington has maintained strong military and political support for Israel while calling on its ally to take steps to avoid civilian deaths and address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Second or third front
While Blinken was in Israel, the leader of Lebanon Hezbollah warned the United States that if Israel did not stop its assault on Gaza, the conflict could expand into a regional war.
Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, in his first speech since the Israel-Hamas conflict erupted, also threatened the US, hinting that his group was ready to face US warships in the Mediterranean.
A heavily armed ally of Hamas, Hezbollah has engaged Israeli forces on the Lebanon-Israel border in the biggest flare-up since it fought a war with Israel in 2006.
“You Americans can stop the aggression against Gaza because it is your aggression,” Nasrallah said. “Anyone who wants to prevent a regional war, and I’m talking to the Americans, must quickly stop the aggression in Gaza.”
He added that Hezbollah is not afraid of the US naval firepower that Washington has amassed in the region since the crisis erupted.
Other groups have joined the fray since October 7, with groups firing on US forces in Iraq and Syria, and Yemen’s Houthis launching drones into Israel.
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