Biden, Saudis call for Israeli restraint as Gaza suffers another bloody day
Pressure grew on Israel yesterday from its staunch ally the United States and from Middle East powers to ease its assault on Gaza as its forces said they engaged in "tough battles" against Hamas militants in central and southern parts of the enclave.
Following talks with Arab leaders, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken landed late Monday in Tel Aviv on the latest leg of a regional tour aimed at preventing the war - now entering its fourth month - from turning into a wider conflagration.
Israeli officials have said they are entering a new phase of more targeted warfare after mass bombardments that have devastated the Gaza Strip and killed more than 23,000 Palestinians.
There was no respite on Monday, however, with the Israeli military saying a "different mix of forces" was pursuing holdout Hamas fighters in the enclave's north as "intense operational activity" focused on central Gaza and the area of the southern city of Khan Younis.
"Handling tough battles in both the center and south," said Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, an Israeli military spokesman. "The fighting will continue through 2024."
Israeli forces bombarded the eastern part of Khan Younis and the central Gaza Strip amid ground clashes, residents said.
They said a strike in Deir Al-Balah killed 18 people overnight and four on Monday, while health officials in the Hamas-run enclave said 247 people were killed overnight.
Hamas's military wing the Al-Qassam Brigades said its fighters fired a missile barrage at the Israeli city of Tel Aviv in response to what it called the "Zionist massacres against civilians".
And in a further sign the war is spreading beyond Gaza's borders, Israel killed a top commander of Hamas' ally Hezbollah in a strike in south Lebanon on Monday, sources familiar with the group's operations said.
Blinken held talks in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia on Monday to try to chart a way forward in the bloodiest chapter ever of the decades-long IsraelPalestinian conflict. It is his fourth mission to the region since the deadly Oct. 7 attacks on Israel by Hamas militants triggered the massive Israeli assault.
Speaking to reporters before flying to Israel following talks with Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in
the Saudi oasis town of Al Ula, Blinken said he found support among Arab leaders for normalizing relations with Israel.
"There's a clear interest in the region in pursuing that but it will require that the conflict end in Gaza and it will also clearly require that there be a practical pathway to
a Palestinian state," said Blinken, who stopped in Jordan and Qatar on Sunday.
The Saudi crown prince, the kingdom's de facto ruler, stressed the importance of stopping the hostilities in Gaza and forming a path for peace, Saudi state news agency SPA reported.