Israeli airstrikes on the southern Gaza city of Rafah have killed at least 22 people, including six women and five children, Palestinian health officials said. One of the children who died in the attacks overnight on Monday was only five days old.
Israel has carried out regular airstrikes on Rafah since the start of the war and has threatened to send ground troops, saying Rafah is the last major Hamas stronghold in the coastal enclave. More than a million Palestinians have sought refuge in the city located on the border with Egypt. The United States and others have urged Israel not to invade, fearing a humanitarian catastrophe.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken begins his seventh diplomatic mission to the Middle East on Monday since the war between Israel and Hamas began more than six months ago.
Blinken’s visit, which includes just over a day in Saudi Arabia before stops in Jordan and Israel on Tuesday and Wednesday, comes amid renewed concerns about the spread of the Middle East conflict and with once-promising prospects for a rapprochement between Israel and Saudi Arabia. It remains in place while Israel refuses to consider one of the Saudis’ main conditions for normalizing relations: the creation of a Palestinian state.
The war between Israel and Hamas was sparked by the unprecedented October attack. 7 in southern Israel in which militants killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapped about 250 hostages. Israel says militants are still holding around 100 hostages and the remains of more than 30 others.
The war has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials, about two-thirds of them children and women.
At the moment:
— Hamas is reviewing an Israeli proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza, as a planned offensive in Rafah looms.
– Biden and Netanyahu speak as Israel is under pressure over the planned Rafah invasion and ceasefire talks.
– Blinken is back in the Middle East this week. He has a lot of work ahead of him
— Senior French diplomat arrives in Lebanon in an attempt to mediate to stop clashes between Hezbollah and Israel.
— Arrests rock American universities across the country ahead of graduation as protesters demand cutting ties with Israel.
— AP’s complete coverage of Israel and Hamas was
Here’s the latest:
RAFAH, Gaza Strip – Israeli airstrikes on the southern Gaza city of Rafah have killed at least 22 people, including six women and five children, Palestinian health officials say. One of the children who died in the attacks overnight on Monday was only five days old.
Israel has carried out regular airstrikes on Rafah since the start of the war and has threatened to send ground troops, saying Rafah is the last major Hamas stronghold in the coastal enclave. More than a million Palestinians have sought refuge in the city located on the border with Egypt. The United States and others have urged Israel not to invade, fearing a humanitarian catastrophe.
The night attacks affected three family homes. The first killed 12 people, including four brothers aged between 9 and 27, according to records at the Abu Yousef al-Najjar hospital, where the bodies were taken.
The second attack killed seven people, including a 33-year-old father and his 5-day-old son, according to hospital records. The third attack killed three brothers, ages 23, 19 and 12.
Israel blames Hamas for the high number of civilian deaths because the militants fight in densely populated areas. But the military rarely accounts for individual attacks, which often kill women and children.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday begins his seventh diplomatic mission to the Middle East since the war between Israel and Hamas began more than six months ago.
Just before Blinken’s visit, which includes just over a day in Saudi Arabia before stops in Jordan and Israel on Tuesday and Wednesday, President Joe Biden spoke by phone Sunday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Blinken’s trip comes amid renewed concerns about the spread of the Middle East conflict and with the once-promising prospects for a rapprochement between Israel and Saudi Arabia effectively on hold, as Israel refuses to consider one of the main conditions of the Saudis for the normalization of relations: the creation of a Palestinian State. .
The conflict has fueled massive protests around the world that have spread to American college campuses. US support for Israel, particularly arms transfers, has come under particular criticism, something the administration is well aware poses potential problems for Biden in an election year.
TEL AVIV, Israel – US President Joe Biden spoke again with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the White House said Sunday, as pressure mounts on Israel and Hamas to reach a deal that would free some hostages Israelis and would achieve a ceasefire in which he spent almost seven months in Gaza.
The White House said Biden reiterated his “clear position” as Israel plans to invade the southernmost Gaza city of Rafah, despite global concern for more than 1 million Palestinians sheltering there. The United States opposes the invasion on humanitarian grounds, straining relations between the allies. Israel is among the countries that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit when he returns to the Middle East on Monday.
Biden also emphasized that progress in delivering humanitarian aid to Gaza must be “sustained and improved,” according to the statement. The call lasted just under an hour and they agreed that it remains Hamas’s responsibility to accept the latest offer in the negotiations, according to a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to make public comments.
There was no comment from Netanyahu’s office.