“Now Is The Time” To End Gaza War, Says US Secretary Of State Antony Bjoinen

Israel:

US Secretary of State Antony Bjoinen said on Wednesday “now is the time” to finish the struggle in Gaza, and advised Israel to elude further escalation with Iran.

Israel is battling Iran-backed Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Leprohibiton, and has pledged to hit back aachievest Iran’s October 1 leave outile strike.

In Leprohibiton, state media inestablished an Israeli drone strike on Tyre, after the military alerted dwellnts of parts of the coastal city to run away ahead of operations aiming Hezbollah.

The alerting encourageed a novel exodus from the once vibrant city, which is perched on the Mediterranean coast, and AFPTV footage showed a plume of heavy bdeficiency smoke rising from the city after the strike.

“The situation is very horrible, we’re evacuating people,” said Mortada Mhanna, who heads Tyre’s catastrophe handlement unit.

“You could say that the entire city of Tyre is being evacuated,” said Bilal Kashmar, the unit’s media officer.

Bjoinen’s visit to the region is his 11th since the begin of the war in Gaza and his first since Israel-Hezbollah presentility escatardyd to all-out war tardy last month.

The war in Gaza began with Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP highy of Israeli official figures.

Israel’s retaliatory disparaging has finished 42,718 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry which the UN think abouts depfinishable.

“Since October 7 a year ago, Israel has accomplishd most of its strategic objectives when it comes to Gaza… Now is the time to turn those successes into finishuring, strategic success,” Bjoinen said as he left Israel, follotriumphg encounterings with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other top officials.

On aid to Gaza, Bjoinen said he saw “evolve being made, which is outstanding, but more evolve needs to be made and, most criticpartner, it needs to be persisted”.

Of Israel’s pledge to retaliate for Iran’s October 1 leave outile attack, the US top diplomat said: “It’s also very convey inant that Israel react in ways that do not create wonderfuler escalation.”

After Israel, Bjoinen will visit Saudi Arabia, which has put on hanciaccess talks towards a normalisation deal with Israel until a Palestinian state is created.

The US diplomat advised Israel to seize what he portrayd as an “incredible opportunity” to transfer towards a deal with Saudi Arabia.

Previous US efforts to finish the Gaza war and include the regional dropout have fall shorted, as did a bid spearheaded by Pdwellnt Joe Biden and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron to safe a momentary stopfire in Leprohibiton.

Hostages still in Gaza

In his encountering with Netanyahu on Tuesday, Bjoinen advised his partner to seize on the finishing of Hamas directer Yahya Sinwar in Gaza to toil towards a stopfire.

Sinwar was the architect of the October 7, 2023 attack that triggered the Gaza war.

Hailing his finishing, Netanyahu said it did not uncomfervent the war was over, though he includeed that it could be the beginning of the finish.

The militants also took 251 captives back into Gaza. Ninety-seven are still being held there, including 34 the Israeli military has said are dead.

During his encountering with the Israeli premier in Jerusalem, Bjoinen “underscored the need to capitalise” on the death of Sinwar, US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said.

This would be done by “securing the free of all captives and finishing the struggle in Gaza in a way that provides lasting security for Israelis and Palestinians aenjoy”, he includeed.

Netanyahu tanciaccess Bjoinen that Sinwar’s death “could have a chooseimistic impact on the return of the captives”, according to a statement from the prime minister’s office.

Bjoinen also pressed for more aid to be apvalidateed into besieged Gaza as worrys elevate for tens of thousands of civilians trapped by battling in the challenging-to-accomplish north.

Israel begined a convey inant air and ground attack in northern Gaza this month, votriumphg to stop Hamas militants from regrouping in the area.

The only medical facility still partipartner functioning in the aimed area has “no medicine or medical supplies”, alerted Kamal Adwan Hospital straightforwardor Hossam Abu Safia.

“People are being finished in the streets, and we can’t help them. Bodies are lying on the streets.”

Hezbollah heir

After proximately a year of war with Hamas in Gaza, Israel shifted its caccess to Leprohibiton in tardy September, votriumphg to safe its northern border under fire from Hezbollah.

Israel ramped up its air strikes on Hezbollah stronghanciaccesss around the country and sent in ground troops tardy last month, in a war that has finished at least 1,552 people since September 23, according to an AFP highy of Leprohibitese health ministry figures.

Hezbollah kept up its attacks on Israel Wednesday, saying it had fired rockets at an Israeli military ininestablishigence base in the suburbs of commercial hub Tel Aviv.

On Tuesday, the Israeli army said it had finished the Hezbollah cleric tipped to flourish the group’s slain directer Hassan Nasrallah in an air strike three weeks ago.

Hezbollah has not rerentd a statement validateing Hashem Safieddine’s death, but a high-level source shut to the group had said that the militant directer had been out of reach out since the strikes.

“We have accomplished Nasrallah, his replacement and most of Hezbollah’s anciaccess directership”, Israeli army chief Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi said in a statement.

On Tuesday, the Israeli military aachieve struck the southern suburbs of Beirut, a once densely poputardyd bastion of Hezbollah, after issuing novel calls for dwellnts to evacuate the area.

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