TEL AVIV: United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived Friday in Tel Aviv, Israel, on the final stop in his sixth urgent trip to the region since the start of the war.
Blinken says he will share alternatives to Israel's planned ground assault into the southern Gaza town of Rafah when he meets with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his War Cabinet. On Thursday, Blinken and Arab leaders discussed efforts for a cease-fire and ideas for Gaza’s post-conflict future.
The United Nations Security Council will vote Friday on a U.S.-sponsored resolution declaring “the imperative of an immediate and sustained cease-fire” in the Israel-Hamas war. It also supports diplomatic efforts to secure a “cease-fire in connection with the release of all remaining hostages" and emphasizes “the urgent need to expand the flow of humanitarian assistance to civilians in the entire Gaza Strip.”
So little food has been allowed into Gaza that up to 60% of children under 5 are now malnourished, compared with fewer than 1% before the war began, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Thursday.
The Health Ministry in Gaza raised the territory's death toll Thursday to nearly 32,000 Palestinians. The ministry doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count but says women and children make up two-thirds of the dead.
Palestinian militants killed some 1,200 people in the surprise Oct. 7 attack out of Gaza that triggered the war, and abducted another 250 people. Hamas is still believed to be holding some 100 people hostage, as well as the remains of 30 others.