Washington seeks to extend Gaza truce, US officials expect war to resume

The United States announces it will continue efforts to extend the humanitarian ceasefire agreement GazaU.S. officials expect Israel to resume military operations in the Gaza Strip.

At a news conference in Tel Aviv on Thursday night, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called for a truce in Gaza for “an eighth day or longer” and said the United States was committed to achieving the goals of the truce and to that end, it was working with Qatar, Egypt and Israel cooperate, adding that efforts are being made to increase the flow of aid, especially fuel to the sector.

Blinken added that Israel has said it will resume military operations in Gaza once the exchange of detainees is completed. He said the way Israel “defenses itself” is important and must comply with international law, explaining that Israel has asked Israeli officials to come up with a plan to protect civilians in Gaza.

The U.S. secretary of state urged Israel to ensure “safe areas” in central and southern Gaza as it resumes military operations and said Israel had agreed to protect civilians and continue to provide aid ahead of any attacks in the southern Gaza Strip.

Regarding the future of Gaza after the war, Blinken said that it is necessary to ensure that the governance of the Gaza Strip is different from before. Hamas As he said, the election will be discussed later.

The U.S. Secretary of State met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and participated in the Israeli War Council meeting in Tel Aviv, and expressed support for the continuation of the truce in light of the results achieved.

John Kirby, strategic policy coordinator at the National Security Council, said in Washington that Washington would continue to work with Qatar and Egypt to extend the humanitarian truce and secure the release of Gaza detainees, noting that the United States does not currently support a ceasefire.

Kirby added that more than 100 people detained in Gaza had been released in the first six days of the truce, noting that six Americans have now left the Strip.

He also talked about the significant increase in aid to Gaza during the humanitarian truce that began on November 24.

The U.S. National Security Council’s strategic policy coordinator said the United States would continue to support Israel if it decided to return to attacking Hamas in exchange for Washington’s desire to extend the truce.

extra day

Qatar’s Foreign Ministry announced on Thursday morning that the Palestinians and Israelis had reached an agreement to extend the humanitarian truce in the Gaza Strip for another day, ending on Friday morning under the same conditions as before.

Majid Ansari, the official spokesman for the Qatari Foreign Ministry, confirmed that the Gaza Strip will continue to intensify efforts to achieve a permanent ceasefire.

Palestinian sources involved in the Doha talks told Al Jazeera that the ongoing talks are specifically focused on humanitarian truce In Gaza, the dialogue made no mention of a permanent ceasefire or the completion of a comprehensive prisoner exchange agreement.

Sources said that the issue of a permanent ceasefire remains far-fetched given Israel’s determination to complete its military operation in Gaza and cause strategic harm to the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas).

Minutes before the end of the humanitarian truce, Hamas announced it would extend the truce for a seventh day.

Against this backdrop, the Financial Times quoted officials as saying that mediators were seeking an additional day of truce and that both sides had a genuine desire to extend it.

During the six-day truce, the Palestinian resistance released more than 82 Israelis and some foreigners and confirmed that there would be no negotiations over captured Israeli soldiers until the aggression ceased and the siege was lifted. In return, as of Thursday evening, the occupying forces had released 180 Palestinians.

war begins again

Meanwhile, Israeli occupying forces spokesman Daniel Hagari said late Thursday that the army was ready to resume fighting in the Gaza Strip immediately.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant said in a concurrent statement that Tel Aviv was fighting what he called a just war, as he called it, before releasing detainees in the Gaza Strip and destroying the Hamas movement. The war will not stop.

Against this backdrop, the Wall Street Journal quoted U.S. officials as saying they expected Israel to resume military operations and begin an advance toward the southern Gaza Strip.

Israel Channel 13 quoted people familiar with the matter as saying that the Israeli Defense Minister told the US Secretary of State that the military operation in Gaza may take months rather than weeks.

The Axios news website also quoted sources as saying that Israel’s chief of staff told Blinken that the military operation may take more than a few weeks.

Agence France-Presse reported that Blinken told Netanyahu that civilians in the southern Gaza Strip need to be protected if fighting breaks out again.

Faced with the possibility that the ceasefire will not be extended, the Qassam Brigades last night asked its fighters to prepare for renewed fighting in the Gaza Strip.

Since October 7 last year, the Israeli army has been waging an all-out war in Gaza, resulting in more than 15,000 martyrs and more than 30,000 injured, mostly children and women, and massive destruction of infrastructure, causing “unprecedented humanitarian consequences.” disaster”.