Diplomatic efforts continue to establish a truce in Gaza

Rafah (Al-Ittihad)

The city of Rafah, south of Gaza, where millions of Palestinians took refuge to escape the fighting in the center and north of the Gaza Strip, witnessed intense Israeli strikes yesterday, at a time when diplomatic efforts continue to reach a new truce in light of escalating tensions in the region.
Shortly after midnight yesterday, eyewitnesses reported hearing strong strikes in this city in the far south of the Gaza Strip. Palestinian medical sources announced that at least 100 civilians were killed overnight, including 14 in the early hours of yesterday morning.
In recent weeks, Israeli operations have focused on the neighboring city of Khan Yunis, which is the second largest city in area in the Gaza Strip.
Under the rain, thousands of residents continued to flee the ongoing battles and Israeli bombing in cars, bicycles, donkey carts, or even on foot.
The displaced are seeking to find refuge in Rafah, where 1.3 million people have moved out of a total population estimated at 2.4 million, and they are vulnerable to hunger and epidemics in the depths of winter, according to the United Nations.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock warned Israel against launching a military attack on the city of Rafah in the far south of the Gaza Strip, and said yesterday, “Action now in Rafah, the last and most crowded place, as the Israeli Defense Minister announced, will simply not be justified.”
Birbock stated that the majority of the victims were women and children, adding: “I made it clear to the Israeli government some time ago, with our American partners, that the people of Gaza cannot disappear into thin air.”
At a time when the fighting continues unabated, diplomatic efforts are intensifying to reach a second truce that will last longer than the one that lasted a week and was approved by the mediation of Qatar, Egypt and the United States, allowing in late November the release of about a hundred Israeli hostages in exchange for Israel releasing Palestinian prisoners in its prisons. .
Informed sources indicate that there is a proposal that includes three stages, and in the first stage it stipulates a truce extending over a period of six weeks, during which Israel will release between 200 and 300 Palestinian prisoners, in exchange for the release of 35 to 40 hostages held in Gaza, provided that it is possible to enter… Between 200 and 300 aid trucks arrive daily in Gaza.
This truce proposal will be at the heart of a new visit by US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken to the region, starting today, which will include stops in Egypt, Israel, and the occupied West Bank. He will advance a proposal to release Israeli hostages held in Gaza in exchange for a suspension of the Israeli attack on the Strip, as the US State Department announced yesterday.
Blinken stated that during this tour he seeks to work on “a lasting peace in the region, including sustainable security for Israelis and Palestinians alike.” This will be the fifth time that Blinken has visited the region since the outbreak of war.
French Foreign Minister Stephane Ségornet, in turn, began a Middle Eastern tour that will continue until Tuesday, focusing on the political prospects for the post-war period in Gaza.
This tour includes Egypt, Jordan, Israel, the Palestinian territories and Lebanon.