Egyptian and US mediators report signs of compromise but many analysts remain pessimistic
Smoke billows on the horizon as a residential building is hit in an Israeli airstrike in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Thursday.Smoke billows on the horizon as a residential building is hit in an Israeli airstrike in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Thursday.
Blinken also reiterated Washington’s objections to a Rafah offensive, saying Israel has not presented a credible plan to protect the 1.2 million or more civilians displaced from elsewhere in Gaza who have sought refuge in sprawling, tented refugee camps and UN shelters there. Israeli officials say a Rafah ground offensive is essential to achieve Israel’s stated war aims because thousands of Hamas fighters and the militant Islamist organisation’s leaders are based there.
In the last 24 hours, the bodies of 32 people killed by Israeli strikes have been brought to local hospitals, Gaza’s Health Ministry said on Saturday. The ministry does not distinguish between fighters and civilians in its tallies. The Israeli government is also deeply divided. Senior members of its war cabinet are keen to secure a ceasefire and free surviving prisoners but far-right ministers have threatened to bring down Netanyahu’s ruling coalition if the war is not continued with greater force.
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