GAZA CITY: The health ministry in Gaza reported on Wednesday that the death toll from the relentless Israeli bombardment has now reached at least 23,357 Palestinians, mostly women and children. The toll includes 147 deaths in the past 24 hours alone, and 59,410 people have been wounded since October 7, turning the besieged territory into ruins.
The Israeli army continues its bombing of the Gaza Strip, continuing in the three-month-long assault. The bloodiest Gaza bombardment started on October 7 last year when Hamas, a Palestinian resistance group, launched a surprise attack called Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on Israel.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the occupied West Bank, where Abbas emphasized the need to halt Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people in Gaza and the West Bank.
Blinken reiterated the US position supporting “tangible steps” towards the creation of a Palestinian state, emphasizing the goal of coexistence and security for both Israel and Palestine. As Blinken arrived at Abbas’s headquarters in Ramallah, protesters displayed signs calling for an end to the genocide and freedom for Palestine.
Abbas to Discuss Gaza Ceasefire with Jordan and Egypt Leaders
Abbas is set to discuss a “push for an immediate ceasefire” in Gaza during talks with Jordan’s King Abdullah II and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Aqaba. Blinken is scheduled for further discussions in Bahrain to prevent regional escalation of the conflict.
Global concern over Gaza’s humanitarian crisis has risen, prompting Blinken to urge steps to alleviate suffering. The United Nations estimates that 1.9 million Gazans have been displaced, exacerbating an already dire situation due to years of blockade and poverty. Despite these challenges, the Israeli siege has resulted in limited relief supplies entering Gaza from Egypt.
Meanwhile, fears of a widening conflict between Israel and resistance groups in the region, including Hezbollah in Lebanon, have grown.
Dire shortages brought by an Israeli siege mean the “daily toll on Palestinian civilians in Gaza, particularly women and children, is far too high,” Blinken said on Tuesday after his talks with Benjamin Netanyahu.
Blinken called for “more food, more water, more medicine” for Gaza, where only limited relief supplies have been arriving from Egypt. On Tuesday, desperate Gazans climbed onto one relief truck carrying flour and canned goods and tossed the food to the crowd below.
