In a latest diplomatic effort to end conflicts in the Gaza Strip and LebanonUS Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday that negotiators will meet “in the coming days” and also announced an additional $135 million in US aid for Palestinian civilians.
“By referring to the negotiators meeting, I was referring specifically to negotiations on the return of hostages and a ceasefire for Gaza, and that is the entire focus of their work,” Blinken explained at a press conference in Doha together with the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Qatar, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.
“Apart from that, there is the work we are doing, also very intensely, in Lebanon to reach a diplomatic resolution,” he said.
The United States is in talks with its regional counterparts on a plan that will allow Israel to withdraw from Gaza, ensure that Hamas cannot reconstitute itself, and support the Palestinian people in governing, securing and rebuilding Gaza.
More humanitarian aid
Blinken revealed that the United States will provide an additional $135 million in humanitarian assistance so that Palestinians in Gaza and the rest of the region have access to water, sanitation and maternal health.
The top U.S. diplomat stressed the urgency of addressing the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, noting the extraordinary challenges people there face daily. “That’s even more urgent now that winter is approaching,” Blinken said.
This announcement brings total US humanitarian aid to more than $1.2 billion since October 7 of last year.
Meanwhile, France hosted an international conference on Thursday in Paris to raise funds to help those affected by the war between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The European country’s government announced its pledge to donate $108 million, while Germany said it will contribute $103 million for aid in Lebanon.
Ceasefire negotiations
It is unclear whether Hamas is willing to participate in upcoming ceasefire talks after the death of its leader, Yahya Sinwar.
“We are coordinating closely with Egypt on any type of initiative that comes on the table. Today, there is an ongoing discussion between Egypt and Hamas. We hope these discussions result in something positive. And the discussion that will follow will be a follow-up to that,” Al Thani, the Qatari foreign minister, said in an exchange with reporters.
Al Thani added that American negotiators will soon meet with their Israeli counterparts in Doha to try to make a breakthrough.
After holding talks in Israel and Saudi Arabia this week, Blinken met with Al Thani on Thursday ahead of discussions with Arab officials on Friday in London.
Earlier this week, a report from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development painted a grim picture of the economic impact of the Israeli military operation in Gaza from October 2023 to May 2024.
The report said that even if the war ended tomorrow and Gaza returned to its pre-conflict conditions, it could still take 350 years for Gaza’s devastated economy to recover to levels of its already fragile pre-war state.
The ‘Plan of the Generals’
On Thursday, Blinken renewed US opposition to any postwar Israeli reoccupation of Gaza and “totally and fundamentally” rejected the so-called Generals Plan, a proposal by retired Israeli generals supposedly aimed at blocking humanitarian aid in the north to kill to starve the Hamas terrorists.
He also said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu assured him in meetings that it is not his government’s strategy. “The Israeli government says it is not Israel’s policy,” Blinken told reporters.
In a video message to the Paris aid conference, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for an immediate ceasefire and urged significant steps towards the full implementation of Security Council Resolutions 1559 and 1701, calling for the long-term disarmament of Hezbollah and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon.
Guterres noted that more than 1.2 million people have been displaced or affected in Lebanon.
“I call on Lebanon’s leaders to take decisive action to ensure the full functioning of state institutions to address the country’s pressing political and security challenges,” Guterres said.
On the battlefields
The Israeli military said Thursday it carried out a new round of airstrikes against Hezbollah weapons production sites in Beirut’s southern suburbs.
Lebanon’s army said three of its soldiers were killed in an Israeli attack while carrying out a rescue operation near the village of Yater in southern Lebanon.
Israel has said its fight is against Iran-backed Hezbollah, not Lebanon, in a conflict that has raised fears of broader regional hostilities.
Medics in Gaza said an Israeli strike hit a school being used as a shelter in Nuseirat, killing at least 16 people. On another front, Syria’s Defense Ministry said Thursday that Israeli airstrikes hit Damascus, killing at least one soldier and wounding seven other people.
Israel rarely comments on attacks on targets in Syria, but has struck Iran-linked targets there for years as part of a campaign to stop arms transfers to Hezbollah and disrupt Iranian proxies.
The war in Gaza began with October 7 Hamas terrorist attack 2023 in southern Israel, during which militants killed about 1,200 people and took 250 hostage. Hamas still holds about 100 hostages, and a third of them are believed to be dead.
Israel’s counteroffensive in the Gaza Strip has killed more than 42,847 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, and Israel says the death toll includes several thousand Hamas militants.
The United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union and others have designated Hezbollah and Hamas as terrorist organizations.
[Ken Bredemeier, Chris Hannas y la corresponsal de la VOA en Naciones Unidas Margaret Besheer contribuyeron con este informe, que también incluye información de Associated Press, Agence France-Presse y Reuters].
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