US President Joe Biden has indicated he is now more optimistic about a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas than in months past.
“As of an hour ago, we’re still in play. I’m optimistic. It’s still far from over. Just a couple more issues, I think we’ve got a shot,” he told reporters on Friday.
His comments come amid rising tensions in the region in recent weeks and as fresh Israeli strikes were reported in Lebanon and Gaza on Saturday.
A strike that hit a house and an adjacent warehouse sheltering displaced people at the entrance of the the town of Zawaida, in central Gaza, early on Saturday morning killed at least 18 people including a family of 15 members, hospital authorities said.
The dead included a meat wholesaler, his two wives, 11 of their children, aged between two to 22, their grandmother and three other relatives, according to a fatality list provided by the al Aqsa Martyrs hospital.
The Israeli military, which said on Saturday that it was continuing attacks on militants in central Gaza, said it was checking on the report.
Lebanon’s health ministry reported at least 10 people, including a mother and her two children, were killed and five others wounded when an Israeli strike hit a residential building in the southern city of Nabatieh, early on Saturday.
Palestinians grieve after at least 18 killed in an Israeli strike. Pic: AP
The Israel Defence Forces claimed it struck a Hezbollah weapons storage facility in the overnight attack, adding it hit several others areas in southern Lebanon it says were “a threat” or “military structures”.
It comes after a deadly rocket strike in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights that Israel blamed on Hezbollah.
Israel responded by killing a top Hezbollah commander in the suburbs of Beirut.
Hezbollah has also vowed to retaliate against Israel, as has Iran, for the killing of the political chief of the Palestinian Hamas group, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran.
The tensions form the backdrop to the ongoing negotiations between Hamas and Israel seeking an agreement to end the devastating 10-month war.
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In a joint statement, the US, Qatar and Egypt said Washington had presented a new proposal that built on points of agreement over the past week, closing gaps in a way that could allow rapid implementation of a deal.
The two days of talks wrapped up in Qatar on Friday night and will reconvene in Cairo next week. Mediators would keep working on the proposal in the meantime, the joint statement said.
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“The path is now set for that outcome, saving lives, bringing relief to the people of Gaza, and de-escalating regional tensions,” the US, Qatar an Egypt said in the statement.
Separately, the Associated Press reported early on Saturday that a US official said mediators are preparing for a possible ceasefire and hostage release deal in Gaza.
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A new “implementation cell” was being established in Cairo in advance, the official added.
The cell would focus on logistics, including freeing hostages, providing humanitarian aid for Gaza and ensuring that the terms of the pact are met.
Israel issued a vague statement saying it appreciated the mediators’ efforts, and a statement from Hamas did not sound enthusiastic about the latest proposal.
Palestinian health authorities said today that 40,074 people had been killed by Israel’s military campaign in the Gaza Strip in the wake of the 7 October attack, in which 1,200 Israelis were killed.
Fears of full-blown polio outbreak
Meanwhile, aid groups are calling for an urgent pause in the Israel-Hamas war so they can ramp up polio vaccinations and prevent a full-blown outbreak.
The virus was detected in wastewater in six different locations in July, with at least one confirmed case and others suspected.
Polio was eradicated in Gaza 25 years ago, but the territory has become a breeding ground for the virus, aid groups say, with hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians crowded into tent camps and lacking clean water or proper disposal of sewage and rubbish.
To avert a widespread outbreak, the groups are preparing to vaccinate more than 600,000 children but say the plans are impossible without a pause in the fighting.
Emily Foster is a globe-trotting journalist based in the UK. Her articles offer readers a global perspective on international events, exploring complex geopolitical issues and providing a nuanced view of the world’s most pressing challenges.
