WASHINGTON —
In a latest diplomatic push to end the conflicts in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday that negotiators will meet “in the coming days.” He also announced $135 million in additional U.S. aid for Palestinian civilians.
“In referring to negotiators coming back together, that was referring specifically to negotiations on the return of hostages and a cease-fire for Gaza, and that is the entire focus of their work. Separate from that is work that we’re doing, also very intensely, on Lebanon to reach a diplomatic resolution,” Blinken said during a press conference in Doha alongside Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.
The United States is in discussions with regional counterparts on a plan that allows Israel to withdraw from Gaza, ensures that Hamas cannot reconstitute and supports the Palestinian people in governing, securing and rebuilding Gaza.
More humanitarian aid
“Today, we’re announcing an additional $135 million in humanitarian assistance, water, sanitation, maternal health for Palestinians in Gaza, in the West Bank, as well as in the region,” Blinken said.
He emphasized the urgency of addressing the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, noting the extraordinary challenges faced daily by people there. “That’s all the more urgent with winter approaching,” Blinken said.
This announcement brings total U.S. humanitarian aid to more than $1.2 billion since Oct. 7 of last year.
Meanwhile, France hosted an international conference Thursday in Paris to raise funds to help those affected by the war between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
France announced a pledge of $108 million, while Germany said it is contributing $103 million for aid in Lebanon.
Cease-fire talks
It remains unclear whether Hamas is prepared to engage in the upcoming cease-fire talks after the death of its leader, Yahya Sinwar.
Al Thani told reporters, “We are closely coordinated with Egypt on any kind of initiatives that will emerge on the table. Today, there [is] an ongoing discussion between Egypt and Hamas. We hope that these discussions will yield to something positive. And the discussion that will come afterward, it will be a follow-up for that.”
Al Thani added that U.S. negotiators will meet soon with Israeli counterparts in Doha to attempt a breakthrough.
After holding talks in Israel and Saudi Arabia this week, Blinken met Thursday with Al Thani ahead of discussions with Arab officials on Friday in London.
Earlier this week, a report by the U.N. Conference on Trade and Development painted a grim picture of the economic impact of the Israeli military operation in Gaza from October 2023 to May 2024.
The report said that even if the war were to end tomorrow and Gaza returned to its preconflict conditions, it could still take 350 years for Gaza’s devastated economy to recover to its already-fragile prewar state.
‘Generals’ Plan’
On Thursday, Blinken renewed the United States’ opposition to any Israeli reoccupation of post-war Gaza and “fully and fundamentally” rejected the so-called Generals’ Plan, a proposal by retired Israeli generals allegedly aimed at blocking humanitarian aid to northern Gaza to starve out Hamas terrorists.
Blinken also said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu assured him during their meetings that this is not the policy of the Israeli government. “The government of Israel says that it is not the policy of Israel,” Blinken told reporters.
In a video message to the Paris aid conference, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for an immediate cease-fire and urged meaningful steps toward full implementation of Security Council Resolutions 1559 and 1701, which call for the long-term disarmament of Hezbollah and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon.
Guterres noted that more than 1.2 million people have been displaced or affected in Lebanon.
“I call on Lebanon’s leaders to take resolute steps toward ensuring fully functional state institutions to address the country’s pressing political and security challenges,” Guterres said.
On the battlefields
Israel’s military said Thursday it conducted a new round of airstrikes against Hezbollah weapons production sites in Beirut’s southern suburbs.
Lebanon’s military said three of its soldiers were killed in an Israeli strike while they were conducting a rescue operation near the village of Yater in southern Lebanon.
Israel has said its fight is with Iran-backed Hezbollah, not Lebanon, in a conflict that has raised fears of wider regional hostilities.
Medics in Gaza said an Israeli strike hit a school that was being used as a shelter in Nuseirat, killing at least 16 people.
On another front Thursday, Syria’s Defense Ministry said Israeli airstrikes hit Damascus, killing at least one soldier and injuring seven other people.
Israel rarely comments on strikes against targets in Syria, but it has hit Iran-linked targets there for years as part of a campaign to halt weapons transfers to Hezbollah and disrupt Iranian proxies.
The war in Gaza began with the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attack on southern Israel, during which the militants killed about 1,200 people and took 250 people as hostages. Hamas is still holding about 100 hostages, with a third of them believed to be dead.
Israel’s counteroffensive in the Gaza Strip has killed more than 42,847 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, with Israel saying that the death toll includes several thousand Hamas militants.
The United States, United Kingdom, European Union and others have designated Hezbollah and Hamas as terrorist organizations.
VOA’s Ken Bredemeier, Chris Hannas and United Nations Correspondent Margaret Besheer contributed to this report. Some information for this story was provided by The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
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