Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Tel Aviv on Friday on the final stop in his sixth urgent trip to the region since the start of the Israel-Hamas war. He said he would share alternatives to Israel's planned ground assault into the southern Gaza town of Rafah during talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the country's war cabinet.
"A major ground operation there would mean more civilian deaths, it would worsen the humanitarian crisis," Blinken told journalists in Cairo on Thursday. "There is a better way to deal with the threat, the ongoing threat posed by Hamas."
The United Nations Security Council was scheduled to vote Friday on a U.S.-sponsored resolution declaring "the imperative of an immediate and sustained cease-fire" in the war. In a statement overnight, European Union leaders called "for an immediate humanitarian pause leading to a sustainable ceasefire, the unconditional release of all hostages and the provision of humanitarian assistance."
So little food has been allowed into Gaza that up to 60% of children under 5 are now malnourished, compared with fewer than 1% before the war began, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Thursday.
In Gaza, the Health Ministry, under the control of Hamas, has reported a death toll of nearly 32,000 Palestinians. The ministry's count does not differentiate between civilians and combatants, noting that women and children account for two-thirds of the deceased.
Following a surprise attack on October 7th from Gaza, Palestinian militants were responsible for the deaths of approximately 1,200 individuals and the abduction of 250 others. It is believed that Hamas still holds around 100 people as hostages, along with the remains of 30 individuals.
