Mediators step up diplomacy after major flareup in Gaza

Mediators step up diplomacy after major flareup in Gaza

 JERUSALEM: Two of the United States’ top envoys to the Middle East met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday after weekend violence threatened to wreck a fragile US-brokered ceasefire in Gaza.

The sit-down came as Israel reopened the Kerem Shalom border crossing into Gaza for aid shipments, a security official and a humanitarian source said, after the entry point was closed briefly on Sunday following the killing of two Israeli soldiers.

In response, Israel carried out dozens of strikes targeting Hamas across Gaza — using 153 tonnes of bombs, according to Netanyahu.

US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and adviser son-in-law Jared Kushner met Netanyahu on Monday to discuss “developments and updates in the region,” said Shosh Bedrosian, spokeswoman for the prime minister’s office.

Bedrosian added that US Vice President JD Vance and his wife were also due to visit Israel “for a few days and will be meeting with the prime minister.”

Netanyahu later told the Israeli parliament that Vance was due to arrive on Tuesday for discussions on “two things … the security challenges we face and the diplomatic opportunities before us.”

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Vance has already urged Gulf countries to establish a “security infrastructure” to ensure that Hamas disarmed.

A Hamas delegation was in Cairo on Monday for talks with Qatari and Egyptian mediators on the continuation of the truce.

Gaza’s civil defense agency said four people were killed by Israeli forces on Monday in Gaza City.

The people were killed in two separate incidents on Monday morning, both times “by Israeli gunfire as they were returning to check on their homes in the Al-Shaaf area, east of Al-Tuffah neighborhood, in the east of Gaza City,” said Mahmud Bassal, spokesman for the rescue service.

The UN was “concerned by all acts of violence in Gaza,” spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said.

“We urge all parties to honor all of their commitments to ensure the protection of civilians and avoid any actions that could lead to a renewal of hostilities and undermine humanitarian operations,” the UN secretary-general’s spokesman said.

The EU is leaving the door open to sanctioning Israel to maintain leverage to ensure the Gaza ceasefire deal is fully implemented, the bloc’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said.

Mediators step up diplomacy after major flareup in Gaza

ARAB NEWS