Live blog: Blinken pushes for truce as Israel intensifies attacks in Gaza

Tuesday, August 20, 2024

1800 GMT — US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Qatar as part of a Middle East tour to push forward talks aimed at ending the 10-month-old Gaza war.

Blinken is set to meet with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani following stops in Egypt and Israel.

Earlier today Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el Sisi warned of the risk of the Gaza war expanding regionally in a way “difficult to imagine."

The meeting met with the US top diplomat in El-Alamein, northern Egypt where the two sides reviewed mediation efforts by Egypt, Qatar, and the US to reach a ceasefire in Gaza and swap prisoners, the Egyptian presidency said in a statement.

Blinken briefed the Egyptian leader on the outcome of his visit to Israel and underlined the US commitment to reaching a ceasefire agreement, the statement said.

He also met with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, who voiced hope that the next round of ceasefire talks “will see a genuine Israeli political will to end the Gaza war.”

More updates 👇

1800 GMT — Israeli opposition leader calls for hostage swap deal, demands Netanyahu stop sabotaging efforts

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid called for an end to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's attempts to “sabotage” talks aimed at reaching a Gaza ceasefire and hostage swap deal with Hamas.

“All of Netanyahu's attempts to sabotage the negotiations should stop. Deal now, before they (captives) all die,” Lapid said on X.

The Israeli army on Tuesday retrieved the bodies of six hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.

Israel estimates that around 110 Israelis are held in Gaza, with Hamas saying that many captives were killed in Israeli attacks in the enclave.

1710 GMT — Gaza ceasefire talks at 'decisive moment' — Jerusalem patriarch

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the patriarch of Jerusalem, expressed concern as ceasefire talks in Gaza reached a "decisive moment," warning of further escalation if negotiations fail.

"We can go towards a ceasefire now or towards a degeneration," he said at an event in Rimini, Italy. "It all depends on the coming days, this is why I am asking for prayers: It's the only thing that we can do."

While hopeful, Pizzaballa said he had his doubts that the negotiations would produce a Gaza ceasefire.

"This is the last 'train.' If we do not reach a ceasefire deal, it will be dramatic," he said.

1620 GMT — At least 9 killed in Israeli strike on market in central Gaza

At least nine Palestinians were killed and several others injured in an Israeli air strike on a marketplace in the central Gaza city of Deir al-Balah, a medical source said.

“A woman and two children were among the victims,” the source told Anadolu Agency.

The source said the death toll is likely to rise as many of the injured are in serious condition.

The targeted area was classified by the Israeli army as a “civilian safe zone” amid Tel Aviv’s ongoing offensive on Gaza.

1540 GMT — Palestinian government advances plan for Gaza reconstruction

The Palestinian government is working on a “comprehensive plan” for the reconstruction of war-torn Gaza, Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa said.

"Significant progress has been made in preparing the framework for the Gaza and West Bank reconstruction plan and launching a major economic and social development program in cooperation with the World Bank, the UN, and the EU,” his office said in a statement.

The premier emphasized the need to “significantly expand urgent relief and early recovery operations, including the restoration of essential services such as water, health services, electricity, sanitation, education, debris removal, temporary shelter, livelihood support, recovery, and economic empowerment.”

Mustafa called for international pressure “to halt the (Israeli) aggression, and to support emergency response to provide essential services, rebuild infrastructure in Gaza, achieve stability, and ensure a dignified life for the Palestinian people.”

1307 GMT — Israel won’t withdraw from Gaza corridors ‘under any circumstances,’ Netanyahu vows

Israel will not withdraw from the Philadelphi Corridor on the Gaza-Egypt border and the Netzarim Axis, which divides Gaza into two parts “under any circumstances,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

"Israel will not, under any circumstances, leave the Philadelphi Corridor and the Netzarim Axis despite the enormous pressure it is under to do so,” Netanyahu said in statements cited by Israeli daily Maariv during a meeting with families of Israelis held captive in Gaza.

"These are strategic principles, both militarily and politically,” added Netanyahu.

His comments came hours after US President Joe Biden and his Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the Israeli premier had agreed to a recent ceasefire and prisoner swap proposal floated by Washington.

1245 GMT — Dozen Palestinians killed in Israeli strike on school shelter

The Palestinian civil defence said an Israeli strike on a school-turned-shelter killed at least 12 people, while the Israeli military claimed it struck a Hamas command centre.

"Our crews retrieved 12 martyrs from the Mustafa Hafiz school, which was bombed by the Israeli occupation west of Gaza City," agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP.

Bassal had earlier given a toll of seven dead and 15 wounded in the strike, which he said had hit the second floor of the school building.

1140 GMT — Netanyahu under fire as Israeli army retrieves dead hostages from Gaza

Families of Israeli hostages in Gaza have accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of abandoning their loved ones for his political survival.

The criticism came after the army said that it had recovered the bodies of six hostages from the Palestinian enclave.

According to the Israeli public broadcaster KAN, the six hostages were alive when taken to Gaza on October 7, 2023.

“He and all the hostages could have been brought back,” Mati Dancyg, whose father was among the dead hostages, told KAN.

“Netanyahu chose to sacrifice the hostages. Karma will judge him and he will pay for it, big time,” he said, accusing the Israeli premier of “choosing to abandon the hostages in order to survive.”

1108 GMT — Hamas says Biden remarks 'green light' for Israel to continue war

Hamas condemned claims by US President Joe Biden that it was backing away from a Gaza truce deal, calling his remarks a "green light" for Israel to continue the war.

The "misleading claims... do not reflect the true position of the movement, which is keen to reach a ceasefire" agreement, Hamas said in a statement, calling Biden's remarks an "American green light for the Zionist extremist government to commit more crimes against defenceless civilians".

0815 GMT — Israel killed 40,173 Palestinians in Gaza Since October 7: ministry

Israel's military offensive in Gaza has killed at least 40,173 Palestinians and wounded 92,857 since October 7, the Palestinian enclave's health ministry said.

0717 GMT — Israel says bodies of 6 hostages retrieved in Gaza raid

The Israeli military says it has recovered the bodies of six Israelis who were taken hostage by Hamas in the October 7 attack.

The military said in a statement on Tuesday the bodies were recovered in an overnight raid in southern Gaza.

The Israeli military didn't say how the hostages were killed. But Hamas has on several occasions said that some of the hostages have been killed in Israel's relentless bombings, which have turned almost the entire Palestinian enclave into a pile of rubble.

The UN says that more than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli attacks.

"Most of the dead are women and children. This unimaginable situation is overwhelmingly due to recurring failures by the Israeli Defense Forces to comply with the rules of war," said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk in a recent statement.

0631 GMT — Blinken heads to Egypt on Gaza truce push

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken headed to Egypt for talks on a Gaza ceasefire.

Blinken, who met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Monday, will afterwards head to Qatar, which, along with Egypt, is brokering negotiations for a truce in the 10-month Israeli war on Gaza.

The top US diplomat flew to El Alamein to speak to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el Sisi at his summer palace.

He will then head to meet Qatar's emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, in Doha, where the ceasefire talks took place last week.

2033 GMT — Israel kills Gaza civilians as US touts progress in truce talks

Israel has killed at least nine Palestinian civilians, including children, in a strike that targeted a gathering of civilians in the Shati (Beach) camp west of Gaza City, Palestine's official news agency WAFA reported.

"The occupation's warplanes also targeted a residential tower West of Khan Younis in southern Gaza," it reported.

2000 GMT — Hamas says US buying time for Israel to 'continue genocide'

Hamas spokesperson Osama Hamdan has said the Palestinian resistance group will adhere to ceasefire plan that was previously proposed by US President Joe Biden, adding Washington was buying time for Netanyahu to continue its war in Gaza.

The US is "merely buying time for Israel to continue its genocide," Hamdan told Al Jazeera after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken claimed that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu assured him of support for a US proposal to bridge gaps on a Gaza ceasefire.

"The Israelis have retreated from issues included in Biden’s proposal. Netanyahu’s talk about agreeing to an updated proposal indicates that the US administration has failed to convince him to accept the previous agreement," Hamdan told the Qatar-headquartered broadcaster.

2000 GMT — Pro-Palestine protesters rally outside of DNS in Chicago

Thousands of protesters have marched toward the site of the Democratic National Convention on its open ing day to voice their opposition to Israel's genocidal war in Gaza.

Protesters said their plans have not changed since President Joe Biden left the race and the party quickly rallied behind Vice President Kamala Harris, who will formally accept the Democratic nomination this week. Activists said they were ready to amplify their progressive message before the nation's top Democratic leaders.

“We have to play our part in the belly of the beast to stop the genocide, to end US aid to Israel and stand with Palestine," said Hatem Abudayyeh, a spokesperson for the Coalition to March on the DNC, which includes hundreds of organisations.

Click for more on this story

For our live updates from Monday, August 19, 2024, click here.