Ceasefire: Pressure mounts on Israel as civilian casualty mounts

Ceasefire: Pressure mounts on Israel as civilian casualty mounts

Israel is expected to face intense pressure on Monday to prevent civilian casualties during its attack on Gaza after rejecting pleas for a truce.

Meanwhile, the United States is stepping up its diplomatic efforts in the area to lessen the likelihood that the conflict would worsen.

After hundreds of protesters attempted to overrun an air station housing American troops in southern Turkey on Monday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was scheduled to meet with Turkey’s foreign minister in Ankara.

Blinken met with Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, on Sunday during an unexpected trip to the West Bank. Abbas joined the chorus of people around the world demanding an immediate ceasefire.

Health officials in Hamas-controlled Gaza said more than 9,770 Palestinians have been killed in the war, which began when Hamas launched a surprise attack on southern Israel a month ago, killing 1,400 people and taking more than 240 hostage.

Blinken repeated U.S. concerns that a ceasefire could aid Hamas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ruled it out unless hostages held by Hamas were released.

“There will be no ceasefire without the return of the hostages. This should be completely removed from the lexicon,” Netanyahu said.

Israel’s military said on Sunday it had surrounded Gaza City, at the northern end of the enclave. Palestinian news agency WAFA had reported “unprecedented bombardment” from Israel, while telecoms provider Paltel reported another cutoff of communications and internet services.

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Israel said 31 soldiers have been killed since it began expanded ground operations in Gaza on Oct. 27, fighting thousands of Hamas fighters who believe they can hold off Israel’s advance in a warren of tunnels under the enclave.

A spokesman for Israel’s military told CNN late on Sunday that bombardments in northern Gaza were halted for several hours for two days in a row to allow civilians safe passage to move to the south of the narrow coastal strip.

“Not only are we telling them where to go, but we’re also helping and creating much better humanitarian conditions in the south,” Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus said, without indicating whether such pauses would continue.

Conricus said there was access to water and humanitarian goods in the south of Gaza, but Hamas was impeding convoys by firing on them. Reuters could not immediately verify his account.

U.S. CIA Director William Burns was also set to visit Israel on Monday to discuss the war and intelligence with senior officials, the New York Times reported. Burns also will make stops in other Middle East countries to discuss the Gaza situation, the Times quoted an unnamed U.S. official as saying.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant on Sunday and “reiterated his ironclad commitment to Israel’s right to defend itself and emphasized the importance of both protecting civilians and delivering humanitarian assistance,” the Pentagon said.

Austin “reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to deter any state or non-state actor seeking to escalate this conflict.”

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris will call foreign leaders later on Monday to discuss the conflict and advance the administration’s efforts to increase the flow of humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza, her office said.

Jordan’s air force air-dropped urgent medical aid to the Jordanian field hospital in Gaza early on Monday, according to a post on X, formerly Twitter, from Jordan’s king and reports in state media.

U.S. Central Command, which covers the Middle East, said on X that an Ohio-class nuclear missile submarine had arrived in the region – an unusual public announcement of a nuclear submarine’s position that was seen by some analysts as a message to Iran.

Ceasefire: Pressure mounts on Israel as civilian casualty mounts

(Reuters)