US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Israel where he underscored the need for Israeli officials to “capitalize” on the recent death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar to secure the release of the remaining hostages held in Gaza and to end the war.
The need to increase humanitarian aid into Gaza was a “prominent topic” in Blinken’s meetings in Israel Tuesday, a US senior administration official said.
Palestinians trapped in three cities of northern Gaza — Beit Lahiya, Jabalya and Beit Hanoun — have recounted scenes of horror over the past two weeks amid the Israeli military’s renewed incursion which it said is targeting Hamas’ presence in the area. Conditions in northern Gaza are spiralling as hospitals ran out of supplies and thousands of people in the Jabalya Refugee Camp are stranded without water.
Here are the latest headlines:
- Hashem Safieddine: The possible successor to late Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an attack in Beirut about three weeks ago, along with other commanders, the Israel Defense Forces said Tuesday. Hezbollah has not yet confirmed the IDF’s claim.
- Most fatalities in a single day: Lebanon reported that 63 people were killed in Israeli attacks on Monday — marking the most fatalities in a single day since September 30 — according to a CNN tally based on data from the Lebanese health ministry.
- Israeli airstrikes hit southern Beirut: Several districts of Beirut’s southern suburb of Dahiyeh were hit by Israeli airstrikes Tuesday night, according to Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA) It’s unclear whether there were casualties. Also, at least 10 people were killed in two other strikes in southern and northeastern Lebanon on Tuesday, its health ministry said.
- No water, no medicine: The humanitarian crisis is dire across northern Gaza for the thousands of residents who have been trapped there for over two weeks. Water has run out entirely in the Jabalya refugee camp on Tuesday, according to UNRWA, the UN’s main agency in Gaza. The Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya, the last full operational hospital, has run out of medicine and blood units, according to its director Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya.
- Blinken meets with hostage families: The family members of hostages still held in Gaza urged Blinken, who is in Israel as part of a tour of the region, to apply “more pressure” on mediating countries to restart negotiations for a hostage deal, the Hostages Families Forum Headquarters said in a statement, adding that Qatar “especially” should be pressured. Of the more than 100 hostages remaining in Gaza, seven are American-Israeli.
