US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s trip to NATO headquarters this week will include additional stops in the Middle East.
“After Brussels, Secretary Blinken will travel this week to Skopje, Israel, the West Bank, and Dubai,” a senior State Department official said.
During those meetings, Blinken will “stress the need to sustain the increased flow of humanitarian assistance to Gaza, secure the release of all hostages and improve protections for civilians in Gaza”, the official added.
Blinken will also talk with leaders about “the future of Gaza and the need to establish an independent Palestinian state”, the official said, adding that Blinken will aim to “continue efforts to prevent the conflict from spreading”.
Israeli military will fight with stronger force when combat resumes against Hamas: DM
Israel’s defense minister said the military will fight with a stronger force after the truce when it returns to combat against Hamas.
Yoav Gallant stated the operation will be carried out across the entire Gaza Strip.
“You have a few days. When we return to fighting, we will apply the same force and more … and we will fight across the whole of the (Gaza) Strip,” Gallant said while addressing a group of Israeli soldiers on Monday.
He made the comments before Qatar announced an agreement had been reached to extend the Israel-Hamas truce in Gaza by two additional days.
“Remember that while you are organizing and resting and researching, the enemy is also doing the same. You will meet something that is a little more ready,” Gallant continued.
“Therefore, they will first meet the bombs of the Air Force, and after that the shells of the tanks and the artillery and the paws of the D9 (bulldozers), and finally the shooting of the infantry fighters, we will fight in the entire strip,” the minister added.
More than 14,800 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza between October 7 and November 23, according to figures from the Palestinian Ministry of Health in the West Bank, which draws its data from Hamas-run health authorities in the Gaza Strip.
The statement said at least 6,000 children and 4,000 women were killed. More than 30,000 people have been injured, the statement read.
The Ministry of Health added it is having difficulties in updating casualty numbers “due to a breakdown in services and communication in hospitals in the north of Gaza”.
Surgeon estimates as many as 900 children have had limbs amputated in Gaza
A British-Palestinian surgeon who treated patients at hospitals in Gaza estimates that between 700 and 900 children have had limbs amputated since the start of the Israel-Hamas war on October 7.
Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah said he recently returned to London after spending several weeks at hospitals in the enclave. Speaking at a news conference in London, he described carrying out surgeries on children without any anesthetic or basic medical supplies.
“My estimate is that there are now between 700 and 900 children with amputations of limbs, in some of whom multiple limbs have been amputated,” he added
Abu-Sittah said he felt guilty for leaving others behind and said some of his medical colleagues had been killed since he left.
He also rejected claims made by the Israel Defense Forces that Hamas had a command center beneath Al-Shifa hospital.
“I have been working in Shifa on and off at every war since 2009,” he continued, adding that in 2014 the International Committee of the Red Cross informed them that Israel had threatened to bomb the hospital, which is the largest in Gaza.
“At no stage — even when I had to gown down to the infamous radiology department with the CT scans and the MRI scans — I have never seen any indication that there was something other than your typical, barely functioning, third-world, governmental hospital,” he stated.