Three months in, deaths mount and diplomats vie to stop Gaza war’s spread

JERUSALEM/AMMAN — Top international diplomats discussed strategies for keeping the Gaza war from spreading beyond Israel and the Palestinian territories on Sunday, exactly three months after the start of the conflict, as Palestinian and Israel authorities claimed thousands of military and civilian deaths.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the European Union’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, were on separate trips to the region to try to quell spillover from the three-month-old war into Lebanon, the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Red Sea shipping lanes.

Israel and Hezbollah often trade fire across the Lebanese border, the West Bank is seething with anger, and the Iran-aligned Houthis in Yemen seem determined to continue attacks on Red Sea shipping until Israel stops bombarding Palestinians in Gaza.

Mr. Blinken was in Amman, Jordan, after stops in Turkey and Greece. Mr. Borrell was on a Jan. 5-7 trip to Lebanon. Both told reporters their priority was quelling spillover from the fighting. “We have an intense focus on preventing this conflict from spreading,”

Mr. Blinken told reporters before heading to Jordan from Chania, Greece, on his fourth trip to the region since Oct. 7, when Hamas launched a cross-border attack on Israel.

Israeli military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari gave a roundup on Saturday, the eve of the three-month anniversary, as Israel has signaled a shift recently to scale down forces while facing international pressure over the mounting civilian death toll and humanitarian crisis in the Gaza strip.

Mr. Hagari said Israeli forces had completed dismantling the Hamas militant group’s “military framework” in northern Gaza and killed around 8,000 militants in that area. “We are now focused on dismantling Hamas in the center of and south of the (Gaza) strip,” he said in an online briefing.

“Fighting will continue during 2024. We are operating according to a plan to achieve the war’s goals, to dismantle Hamas in the north and south,” Mr. Hagari said.

Israel’s bombing and incursions of Gaza began after Hamas militants from the strip attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and taking 240 hostage, according to Israeli officials.

More than 100 hostages are still believed to be held by Hamas.

Israel’s offensive, aimed at wiping out Hamas, had killed 22,722 Palestinians by Saturday, according to Palestinian health officials, and devastated the tiny Gaza enclave. —