US Secretary of State Antony Blinken ruled Thursday in Cairo that a major Israeli operation in Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip, would be “a mistake” while a truce agreement between Israel and Palestinian Hamas is “possible”.
“There are better ways to deal with the Hamas threat”
“The gap is narrowing” in the negotiations for a truce in Gaza held in Doha, where the head of Israeli intelligence will meet the head of the CIA on Friday, and “if it is difficult to reach (an agreement), it is always possible,” said Antony Blinken. “There are better ways to manage the threat from Hamas,” he added, deeming “useless” a ground invasion of Rafah, on the Egyptian border, where nearly 1.5 million Palestinians are crowded together. displaced by war.
Antony Blinken further claimed that the United States had presented a draft resolution to members of the UN Security Council calling for an “immediate ceasefire linked to the release of the hostages” in Gaza. The text, consulted by AFP, underlines “the need for an immediate and lasting ceasefire to protect civilians on all sides, allow the provision of essential humanitarian aid” and “unequivocally supports diplomatic efforts international organizations to achieve such a ceasefire in connection with the release of the hostages still held”. No vote is currently scheduled on this text.
“No more civilian victims”
At his side, his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Choukri insisted that “we need a ceasefire and a release of hostages and prisoners” after more than five months of war that began on October 7. That day, Hamas carried out an unprecedented attack on Israeli soil which resulted in the deaths of at least 1,160 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli sources. According to these sources, around 250 people were kidnapped and 130 of them are still hostages in Gaza, of whom 33 are believed to have died.
Israel vowed to annihilate Hamas, and launched a campaign of intense aerial bombardment, followed by a ground offensive that began in the north and progressed to reach the southern tip of the territory: Rafah. Nearly 32,000 Palestinians have been killed in the small territory since the war, according to Hamas. “Israel must not carry out any military operation in Rafah, so that there are no more civilian victims and displacement,” insisted Sameh Choukri, whose country fears a “forced displacement” of Gazans towards its soil.
Earlier in the day, Egypt, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates participated in a ministerial meeting in Cairo on the war in Gaza. In a joint statement, the participants called for “a complete and immediate ceasefire” and “the opening of all crossing points between Israel and the Gaza Strip”, where aid only reaches dropper.
In addition to the foreign ministers of these five countries, Hussein al-Sheikh, a close friend of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, also took part in the meeting, whose power is only exercised over parts of the occupied West Bank, while his Hamas’s great rival controls the Gaza Strip.