PARIS, JERUSALEM: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday that a Gaza ceasefire remained close, but reiterated that it may not happen before President Joe Biden hands over to Donald Trump.
“In the Middle East, we’re very close to a ceasefire and hostage deal,” he told reporters in Paris.
US President-elect Donald Trump is dispatching his incoming special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, to Qatar this week for talks aimed at the ceasefire in Gaza and the release of Israeli hostages.
Trump speaking at a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort reiterated his threat that there will be “hell to pay” in the Middle East if the hostages are not released prior to his Jan. 20 inauguration.
Witkoff did not detail who he’d be meeting with during his latest visit to the region. Witkoff added that progress is being made on landing a deal, something he said is happening because of the pressure Trump is creating.
Israeli airstrikes in southern Gaza killed at least 17 people, nearly all of them women or children, the territory’s Health Ministry and hospital officials said.
Five kids were killed as they sheltered together in the same tent, said Ahmed Al-Farra, director of the children’s ward at nearby Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis. Their bodies were among the eight children and five women brought to the hospital after strikes on tents, homes and a vehicle. Two bodies were unidentifiable.
Some Palestinians in the Gaza Strip still have hope the war will end soon. Issam Saqr, a displaced man from Khan Younis, said he hopes the ceasefire “will happen today — before tomorrow!” Separately, Palestinian officials said two children were among three people killed in an Israeli airstrike on the occupied West Bank on Wednesday.
Ahmad Asaad, governor of the northern West Bank city of Tubas, said that the strike hit nearby Tammun village, killing a 23-year-old man and two children, aged eight and 10, all from the same family.
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry in Ramallah condemned the deadly strike, accusing Israel of harming civilians “under the pretext” of fighting militants.
The governor identified the dead as Adam Bsharat, 23, Hamza Bsharat, 10, and Reda Bsharat, eight. He said they were killed in front of their house.
Relative Jalal Bsharat said they had been at home when “the Israeli occupation army targeted them.”
He said the strike showed Palestinians are not safe, even in their own homes.
Meanwhile, the Israeli military said that troops have recovered the body of a hostage held in Gaza and were examining whether another body recovered was also that of a captive.
Earlier, Israel’s defense minister said that troops recovered the bodies of two hostages.
The military said the body of Yosef Al-Zaydani was brought to Israel on Tuesday after being discovered in an underground tunnel near the southern Gaza city of Rafah. It said troops uncovered information about Al Zaydani’s son Hamzah that “raised serious concerns for his life.”
Military spokesman Col. Nadav Shoshani said the military was looking into the identity of a second set of remains recovered.
Al Zaydani and his son were taken captive during Hamas’ attack on Oct. 7, 2023, among 250 hostages snatched by the militant group during its cross-border raid.
Israel believes a third of the remaining 100 hostages are dead.
