DOHA: Diplomatic pressure mounted on Israel Friday to secure a truce that could avert a wider war after more than 10 months of fighting in Gaza, as mediators prepared to meet for a second day of talks in Qatar.
Months of effort by international negotiators have yet to secure a truce or hostage release deal but regional tensions have since soared, underscoring the urgency of a ceasefire agreement.
Hamas Palestinian militants were absent, saying they had agreed to terms and urging the United States to pressure Israel.
The risk of a broader Middle East war has surged since the July 31 killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. Iran and its allied groups in the region blamed Israel and vowed revenge.
SPONSORED CONTENT Hajiji says young business professionals' inputs needed to develop Sabah Kota Kinabalu: Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor said he welcomed inputs from young business professionals to assist in policy formulation. Read more US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the talks had “a promising start” but “there remains a lot of work to do”.
The United States, Israel’s main ally and military supplier, has been mediating with Qatar and Egypt, alongside intensive efforts by other nations pushing for a truce.
“This is a dangerous moment for the Middle East. The risk of the situation spiralling out of control is rising,” British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said ahead of his visit to Israel with French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne.
In meetings with Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz and Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer, Britain’s foreign ministry said they would “stress there is no time for delays or excuses from all parties on a ceasefire deal” in Gaza.
Katz told his visiting counterparts he expects foreign support “in attacking” Iran if it strikes Israel.
On Thursday the toll from Israel’s retaliatory military campaign in Gaza topped 40,000, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza, which does not provide a breakdown of civilian and militant casualties.
While the Qatar talks take place with a team sent by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, bombs have continued to fall in the Palestinian territory.
“Why did Netanyahu send a delegation to the talks while we are being killed here?” in Jabalia, Mohammed al-Balwi asked among the concrete debris left from an air strike Thursday in north Gaza.
They had found “limbs on the ground”, he said.
On Friday Gaza’s civil defence agency said its crews recovered five bodies from a bombed apartment building in Gaza City, near Jabalia.
Witnesses reported air raids in central Gaza and near the southern city of Khan Yunis.
Israel’s military said rockets had been fired on Thursday from Khan Yunis toward Kissufim, just outside Gaza.
On Friday the military cited rocket and other fire in announcing new evacuation orders for the Khan Yunis region, from which troops had withdrawn four months ago.
Netanyahu says Israel must have “total victory” but troops have found themselves returning to fight again in Khan Yunis and northern Gaza where, in January, the military declared the Hamas command structure dismantled.
On Thursday the US military said its forces destroyed a “ground control station” operated by Yemen’s Iran-backed Huthi rebels, who have for months fired missiles and drones at shipping in waterways vital to world trade off Yemen.
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