Mediators try to extend Gaza truce which could expire within a day
More than 13,300 Palestinians have been killed since the war began
With hours left to go before a truce in Gaza expires, international mediators worked to extend it to facilitate the release of militant-held hostages and Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. The cease-fire has paused the deadliest fighting between Israel and Palestinians in decades.
Israel has agreed to extend the truce, which was originally set to expire on Monday, by one day for every 10 hostages freed, and Hamas is expected to release another group of hostages later Wednesday. Twelve hostages, including 10 Israelis, were released Tuesday, bringing the total number of people freed during the truce to 81.
Israel has vowed to resume the war in an effort to end Hamas’ 16-year rule of Gaza, but it’s facing mounting international pressure to extend the truce and spare south Gaza a devastating ground offensive like the one that has demolished much of the north.
Hamas’ ability to negotiate and implement the cease-fire suggests that Israel’s air and ground campaigns have not seriously challenged the group’s control of Gaza, despite killing thousands of Palestinians and driving three out of four people in the territory from their homes.
More than 13,300 Palestinians have been killed since the war began, according to the Hamas-controlled Health Ministry in Gaza. About 1,200 people have been killed in Israel, mostly during the initial incursion by Hamas.
Blinken urges cease-fire extension, discussions about Gaza’s future
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken says the Biden administration would like to see a new extension of a cease-fire agreement in Israel’s war with Hamas after the current one expires to secure the release of more hostages held by Hamas and to ramp up humanitarian aid deliveries to Gaza.
As he prepared to make his third visit to the Middle East since the war began with Hamas’ October 7 attacks in Israel, Blinken said Wednesday that in addition to discussing short-term logistical and operational planning, the administration believes it is imperative to discuss ideas about the future governance of Gaza if and when Israel achieves its stated goal of eradicating Hamas.
Israel and Arab nations have resisted discussions of such planning, with Israeli officials concentrating on the prosecution of the war and Arab leaders insisting the immediate priority must be ending the fighting that has killed thousands of Palestinian civilians.
Abbas calls for an international conference to resolve mideast conflict
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is calling for an international conference to resolve the Mideast conflict.
He said Wednesday that the Palestinians are ready to work with the international community on a “serious political process” that leads to an independent state in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, territories Israel seized in the 1967 Mideast war.
He also again called for a halt to the war in Gaza.
Turkish President accuses Netanyahu of artrocities in Gaza
Turkey -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of committing “one of the worst atrocities” of the century and said he would go down in history as the “butcher of Gaza.”
Erdogan, an outspoken critic of Israel’s military actions in Gaza, also said his government wouldensure that Israel is held accountable for its actions before international courts.
