U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday that he welcomed Israel’s agreement to daily humanitarian pauses in its offensive in northern Gaza but that more needed to be done. “Far too many Palestinians have been killed. There are far too many who suffered these past weeks, and we want to do everything possible to prevent harm to them and maximise the assistance that gets to them,” Blinken said, speaking in New Delhi.
Since gunmen from the Islamist organisation Hamas flooded into Israel through the border, there has been fierce fighting in northern Gaza. Israeli officials claim that the attack was the bloodiest in the history of the country, with at least 1,200 people murdered and approximately 240 hostages taken.
The number of people killed in the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas terrorists has been lowered to 1,200, according to Lior Haiat, a spokesman for the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who talked to CBS News on Friday. The original report estimated that at least 1,400 people had died. According to Haitat, the remaining 200 fatalities were “probably terrorists.”
The health ministry in the Gaza Strip, which is governed by Hamas, claims that Israel’s aerial bombing and ground offensive in retaliation have killed over 10,800 Palestinians, many of them children.
13 people were killed in an Israeli strike on the largest hospital in the region, according to the Hamas leadership on Friday. According to a Reuters news agency, a World Health Organisation spokeswoman stated that the hospital was “coming under bombardment” and that 20 facilities in Gaza were completely unable to handle patients.
“Thirteen martyrs and dozens wounded in an Israeli strike on Al-Shifa compound today” in central Gaza City, a government statement said, giving a toll AFP couldn’t immediately verify.
Al-Shifa hospital director Mohammad Abu Salmiya said “Israeli tanks fired on Al-Shifa hospital,” while the Israeli military didn’t offer any immediate comment.
Israel had reported heavy fighting on Thursday near the hospital, saying it had killed dozens of militants and destroyed tunnels that are key to Hamas’ capacity to fight.
The Israeli army has repeatedly accused Hamas of using hospitals, particularly Al-Shifa, to coordinate their attacks against the army and as hideouts for its commanders. Hamas authorities and doctors deny the accusations.
The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said Friday that Israeli tanks were also surrounding two children’s hospitals in northern Gaza. A spokesperson for Israel’s military said they “cannot discuss potential locations relating to our operations. This can potentially compromise the troops.”
Separately, the U.N. human rights chief on Friday said a probe is needed into what he called Israel’s “indiscriminate” bombardment and shelling” in densely populated areas of the Gaza Strip, which he said raises “serious concerns that these amount to disproportionate attacks in breach of international humanitarian law,” The Associated Press reported.
Also on Friday, Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah said Israeli fire killed seven of its fighters, without specifying where or when they died, as border tensions persist during the Israel-Hamas war.
President Biden on Thursday welcomed the pauses Israel signed onto, which formalise an arrangement that’s already seen tens of thousands of Palestinians flee the devastation in northern Gaza.
Blinken said, “I think some progress has been made. But … much more needs to be done in terms of protecting civilians and getting humanitarian assistance to them.”
Blinken said Israel agreeing to the daily four-hour pauses, as well as two humanitarian corridors, will enable people to move away from the fighting. “These steps will save lives and enable more assistance to get to Palestinians in need,” he added.
Tens of thousands of Palestinians have already fled the destruction in northern Gaza as a result of the agreement that President Biden applauded on Thursday.
Blinken said, “I think some progress has been made. But … much more needs to be done in terms of protecting civilians and getting humanitarian assistance to them.”
Blinken said Israel agreeing to the daily four-hour pauses, as well as two humanitarian corridors, will enable people to move away from the fighting. “These steps will save lives and enable more assistance to get to Palestinians in need,” he added.
The visit by Blinken to India is the culmination of an extensive journey that has encompassed South Korea, a Middle East tour, and a conference of the G7 foreign ministers in Japan to explore potential solutions for the Israel-Hamas conflict.
