US and Arab partners disagree over the need for a cease-fire as Israeli strikes kill more civilians

RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — The United States and Arab partners disagreed Saturday on the need for an instantaneous cease-fire in the Gaza Strip as Israeli navy strikes killed a number of civilians at a U.N. shelter and a hospital in a rising assault on the besieged enclave’s Hamas rulers.

Large columns of smoke rose as Israel’s navy stated it had encircled Gaza City, the goal of its offensive to crush Hamas. The Gaza Health Ministry has stated more than 9,400 Palestinians have been killed in the territory, and that quantity is prone to rise as the assault continues.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Arab overseas ministers in Jordan a day after talks in Israel with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who insisted there could possibly be no non permanent cease-fire till all hostages held by Hamas are launched.

Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi stated Arab international locations need an instantaneous cease-fire, saying “the whole region is sinking in a sea of hatred that will define generations to come.”

Blinken, nevertheless, stated “it’s our view now that a cease-fire would merely depart Hamas in place, capable of regroup and repeat what it did on Oct. 7.” He stated the U.S. believes humanitarian pauses could be crucial in defending civilians, getting help in and getting overseas nationals out, “while still enabling Israel to achieve its objective, the defeat of Hamas.”

Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan instructed reporters in Beirut that Blinken “should stop the aggression and should not come up with ideas that cannot be implemented.”

Egyptian officers stated they and Qatar had been proposing humanitarian pauses for six to 12 hours day by day to permit help in and casualties to be evacuated. They had been additionally asking for Israel to launch a variety of girls and aged prisoners in alternate for hostages held by Hamas, strategies Israel appears unlikely to simply accept. They spoke on situation of anonymity as a result of they weren’t approved to temporary the press on the discussions.

Israel has repeatedly demanded that northern Gaza’s 1.1 million residents flee south as it escalates the bombardment of the north. However, a few of these touring south had been killed in latest days, and Israel has continued bombing in the south, saying it’s hanging Hamas targets.

On Saturday, Israel supplied a three-hour window for trapped residents to flee south, however an AP journalist on the street noticed no person coming from the north. The head of the authorities media workplace in Gaza, Salama Maarouf, stated nobody went south as a result of the Israeli navy had broken the street.

But Israel asserted that Hamas “exploited” the window to maneuver south and assault its forces. There was no fast Hamas touch upon that declare, which was unimaginable to confirm.

Some Palestinians stated they didn’t go south for worry of Israeli bombardment.

“We don’t trust them,” stated Mohamed Abed, who was sheltering together with his spouse and youngsters on the grounds of Shifa hospital.

Wide swaths of residential neighborhoods in northern Gaza have been leveled in airstrikes. Most of northern Gaza’s remaining residents, estimated at round 300,000, have sought shelter in U.N.-run faculties and in hospitals. But lethal Israeli strikes have additionally repeatedly hit and broken these shelters. The U.N. company for Palestinian refugees has stated it has misplaced contact with many in the north.

On Saturday, two strikes hit a U.N. school-turned-shelter housing hundreds simply north of Gaza City, killing a number of individuals in tents in the schoolyard and girls who had been baking bread inside the constructing, in keeping with the U.N. company.

Initial studies indicated that 20 individuals had been killed, stated spokeswoman Juliette Touma. The well being ministry in Gaza reported that 15 individuals had been killed at the faculty and one other 70 wounded.

Also Saturday, two individuals had been killed in a strike by the gate of Nasser Hospital in Gaza City, in keeping with Medhat Abbas, well being ministry spokesman. And a strike hit close to the entrance to the emergency ward of Al-Quds Hospital in Gaza City, injuring not less than 21, the Palestinian Red Crescent stated.

The World Health Organization known as assaults on well being care in Gaza “unacceptable.”

Also hit was the household residence of Hamas’ exiled chief Ismail Haniyeh in the Shati refugee camp on the northern fringe of Gaza City, in keeping with the Hamas-run media workplace in Gaza. It had no fast particulars on injury or casualties.

In southern Gaza, an airstrike early Saturday destroyed the residence of a household in the city of Khan Younis, with first responders pulling three our bodies and six injured individuals from the rubble.

Among these killed was a youngster, in keeping with an Associated Press cameraman at the scene.

“The sound of explosions never stops,” stated Raed Mattar, who was sheltering in a faculty in Khan Younis after fleeing the north.

The Israeli navy stated its floor forces had been additionally working in the south, with an armored and engineering corps working to take away booby traps from buildings.

The U.N. stated about 1.5 million individuals in Gaza, or 70% of the inhabitants, have fled their houses.

Food, water and the gas wanted for mills that energy hospitals and different amenities is working out. Aid vehicles allowed into Gaza in latest days have contained far more physique baggage than canned meals, stated Wael Abu Omar, a spokesperson for the Rafah crossing, the enclave’s solely portal to the outdoors world.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres late Friday urged an instantaneous cease-fire, calling the humanitarian scenario in Gaza “horrific.”

He additionally urged Hamas to launch all of the roughly 240 hostages it has.

Some households of hostages arrange camp in Tel Aviv on Saturday.

“I want my army to press on Hamas as much as they can and not give them a second of peace until our sons, our fathers, our mothers and grandmothers and grandfathers are back home,” stated one father, Alex Sherman.

Anger over the conflict and civilian deaths in Gaza sparked massive demonstrations in Paris, London, Pakistan and elsewhere on Saturday. “Against apartheid, free Palestinians,” a banner in Rome learn.

Turkey introduced it was recalling its ambassador to Israel for consultations, and Turkish media reported that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated he might not converse to Netanyahu in gentle of the bombardment.

Fears continued of a new entrance opening alongside Israel’s border with Lebanon. The Israeli navy stated it had struck militant cells in Lebanon making an attempt to fireside at Israel, as effectively as an statement submit for Hezbollah, an ally of Hamas. Throughout the conflict, Israel and Hezbollah have traded fireplace virtually day by day alongside the border.

“We are not interested in a northern front, but we are prepared for any task,” Israel’s Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant stated after touring the northern border. He stated the Air Force is “preserving most of its might for the Lebanon front,” in keeping with a video assertion launched by his workplace Saturday.

Among the Palestinians killed in Gaza are more than 3,900 Palestinian youngsters, the Gaza Health Ministry stated, with out offering a breakdown of civilians and fighters.

More than 1,400 individuals have died on the Israeli aspect, primarily civilians killed throughout Hamas’ preliminary assault. Twenty-four Israeli troopers have been killed in Gaza since the begin of the floor operation.

At least 1,115 Palestinian twin nationals and wounded have exited Gaza into Egypt.

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Mroue reported from Beirut and Anna reported from New York. Associated Press writers Matthew Lee in Amman, Jordan; Samy Magdy in Cairo; Julia Frankel and Isabel DeBre in Jerusalem; and Eric Tucker in Washington contributed to this story.

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Full AP protection at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war