The head of American diplomacy, Anthony Blinkenarrived in Israel this Friday to talk about the protection of Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip, where Israeli troops claim to have surrounded the main city of that territory in their war against Hamas.
In a context of fear of regional conflagration, the Secretary of State begins his second tour of middle East since the beginning of the conflict triggered by the bloody attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement on October 7.
Let’s talk about concrete measures that can and should be taken to minimize the damage
In parallel, the influential leader of Lebanese Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, He offers his first speech since the outbreak of war, in which he must clarify whether his group, an ally of Hamas and backed by Iran, will fully enter the conflict.
“We are going to talk about concrete measures that can and should be taken to minimize the harm to the men, women and children of Gaza,” Blinken declared before leaving Washington.
The Secretary of State will meet with the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahuand will participate in a meeting of his security cabinet, according to a journalist from the AFP that accompanies him.
Since the Hamas attack, which left more than 1,400 dead according to Israeli authorities, the 2.4 million inhabitants of Gaza live under siege and under constant bombardment from Israel, which caused more than 9,000 deaths according to the Islamist movement.
Furthermore, after a week of fighting in the north of the Strip, Israeli soldiers managed to “encircle Gaza City, the center of the Hamas terrorist organization,” military spokesman Daniel Hagari announced the day before.
‘They will return in black bags’
“We are in the heart of the (military) campaign, our successes are impressive,” Netanyahu celebrated Thursday during a visit to a military base near Tel Aviv.
The leader acknowledged that the operation is “difficult” and that it includes “painful losses.” So far, the army has reported 332 dead soldiers, twenty since the beginning of the ground operation.
Videos shared by Hamas show its fighters emerging from tunnels to attack Israeli tanks, whose progress is difficult due to the destruction caused by the bombings.
The armed wing of the Palestinian movement warned that “Gaza will be a curse in the history of Israel” and that many of its soldiers “will return in black bags,” said its spokesman Abu Obeida.
The Israeli army claimed to have carried out new bombings in Gaza overnight and to have fought with “a number of terrorist units” who used “anti-tank missiles” and improvised explosive devices.
In the densely populated Gaza City, some of its inhabitants have sought refuge near the Al Quds hospital.
“We need a safe place for our children,” he told the AFP Hiyam Shamlakh, 50 years old. “Everyone is terrified. The children, the women, the elderly,” she added.
Since Wednesday, wounded people and people with foreign passports were able to leave the besieged territory through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, the only access to Gaza not controlled by Israel.
The UN said that about 60 injured people and around 400 foreigners or people with dual nationality left on Thursday, a similar number to the previous day.
For its part, Israel announced that it would return to Gaza on Friday all the workers from that enclave who were in its territory at the time of the Hamas attack, some 4,000 people, according to local media calculations.
AFP
More news in EL TIEMPO
#Antony #Blinken #arrives #Israel #claims #surrounded #Gaza #City