Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday in Jerusalem, as the United States urged Hamas to accept a cease-fire proposal and pressed Israel to speed aid distribution for Gaza. The meeting came a day after Netanyahu vowed that Israel would invade Rafah regardless of any cease-fire deal with Hamas. “We will enter Rafah, and we will eliminate the Hamas battalions there — with or without a deal,” Netanyahu said.
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End of carouselBlinken and Netanyahu’s meeting lasted approximately 2½ hours — more than twice the length of time originally scheduled. Participants on the U.S. side included Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Barbara Leaf, Special Envoy on Middle East Humanitarian Issues Lise Grande and U.S. Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew, according to the Israeli prime minister’s office.
Netanyahu’s comment Tuesday came as mediators expressed optimism that Israel and Hamas were inching toward a cease-fire agreement. Israel presented terms to negotiators last week that softened its position, an Israeli official familiar with the deliberations told The Washington Post, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomacy.
In Amman, Blinken said the first aid shipments from Jordan through a newly opened crossing into northern Gaza were leaving on Tuesday. Jordan’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement Wednesday that two of its aid convoys were attacked at dawn by “Israeli extremists” who dumped some of the cargo on the streets and damaged the trucks. The convoy was able to continue and reached Gaza, the Foreign Ministry said.
Pro-Palestinian protests at U.S. universities have escalated in recent weeks. The latest wave, with hundreds of demonstrations, marks the most widespread activism since the start of the war in Gaza, with many students calling on their schools to divest from Israeli-linked companies.
At least 34,568 people have been killed and 77,765 injured in Gaza since the war began, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but says the majority of the dead are women and children.
Israel estimates that about 1,200 people were killed in Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack, including more than 300 soldiers, and says 263 soldiers have been killed since the launch of its military operation in Gaza.
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Skip to end of carousel
End of carouselBlinken and Netanyahu’s meeting lasted approximately 2½ hours — more than twice the length of time originally scheduled. Participants on the U.S. side included Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Barbara Leaf, Special Envoy on Middle East Humanitarian Issues Lise Grande and U.S. Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew, according to the Israeli prime minister’s office.
Netanyahu’s comment Tuesday came as mediators expressed optimism that Israel and Hamas were inching toward a cease-fire agreement. Israel presented terms to negotiators last week that softened its position, an Israeli official familiar with the deliberations told The Washington Post, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomacy.
In Amman, Blinken said the first aid shipments from Jordan through a newly opened crossing into northern Gaza were leaving on Tuesday. Jordan’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement Wednesday that two of its aid convoys were attacked at dawn by “Israeli extremists” who dumped some of the cargo on the streets and damaged the trucks. The convoy was able to continue and reached Gaza, the Foreign Ministry said.
Pro-Palestinian protests at U.S. universities have escalated in recent weeks. The latest wave, with hundreds of demonstrations, marks the most widespread activism since the start of the war in Gaza, with many students calling on their schools to divest from Israeli-linked companies.
At least 34,568 people have been killed and 77,765 injured in Gaza since the war began, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but says the majority of the dead are women and children.
Israel estimates that about 1,200 people were killed in Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack, including more than 300 soldiers, and says 263 soldiers have been killed since the launch of its military operation in Gaza.
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