Latest developments US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived Friday in Israel where he is expected to call on the Israeli government to pause i
Latest developments:
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Israel on Friday as Israeli troops surrounded Gaza City. The top U.S. diplomat is expected to press the Israeli government for a pause to its offensive in Gaza so humanitarian aid can enter the region. Blinken was meeting Friday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and members of the Cabinet.
The visit comes as Israeli ground troops have surrounded Gaza City amid diplomatic efforts to bring about a brief stop in the fighting with Hamas militants and a worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday urged a ‚humanitarian pause‘ in the war between Israel and Hamas militants. ‚A pause means give time to get the prisoners out. Give time,‘ he said.
Hamas radicals took more than 240 hostages during its attack on Israel October 7 that killed 1,400 people. Israel declared war on Hamas after the attack and the constant bombardment on Gaza has killed thousands of Palestinians. The Hamas-run Palestinian health ministry says the death toll has surpassed 9,000.
The first group of foreign nationals, who have been trapped in the Gaza Strip since the start of the war, began entering Egypt on Wednesday. More left on Thursday.
Biden said during an Oval Office meeting with the Dominican Republic’s president that 74 Americans with dual nationalities were evacuated from Gaza on Thursday.
Suzan Besaiso, a Palestinian holding a U.S. passport, and her grandmother wait to get onto a vehicle as Besaiso seeks permission to leave Gaza, at the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, Nov. 2, 2023.
His National Security Council spokesman, John Kirby, told reporters that five other Americans had crossed through Rafah on Wednesday. He said he hoped more could still enter Egypt on Thursday, adding the situation is fluid.
‚That’s a good sign that the trajectory is going in the right direction,‘ Kirby said.
