Israel bombarded the southern Gaza Strip overnight, as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken prepared to travel to Egypt on Thursday for more talks aimed at containing Israel’s war against Hamas.
The diplomat was set to meet Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi in Cairo, a day after talks with Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas, who “committed” to reforming the body to potentially reunite Gaza and the West Bank under its leadership after the war, Blinken said.
His fourth Middle East trip, aimed at preventing the conflict’s spread, coincided with a UN Security Council resolution on Wednesday demanding an “immediate” end to attacks carried out by the Houthis in the Red Sea, in solidarity with Hamas.
It also comes as Israel was set to face accusations brought by South Africa at the UN’s top court on Thursday. Israel is accused of having committed “genocidal” acts in Gaza, charges that both Israel and Blinken have dismissed as baseless.
Hamas’ press office said early on Thursday that 62 people had been killed in strikes overnight, including around Gaza’s main southern city of Khan Yunis.
Earlier in the day, the army said that troops east of the city had found “tunnel shafts, tunnel routes and numerous weapons and materials,” and killed “dozens of terrorists.”
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said that an Israeli strike on an ambulance in central Gaza killed four medics and two other passengers on Wednesday.
In Deir al-Balah, also in central Gaza, people wounded in a strike at a nearby school were brought to the Al-Aqsa hospital.
With AFP
