Gaza Conflict: Arab nations urge US to secure immediate ceasefire

A few hours after Palestinians reported that at least fifteen people were killed in an Israeli airstrike that occurred in a U.N.-run school that was being used as a shelter, Arab leaders publicly urged U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Saturday to secure an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

At a press conference, the top U.S. diplomat pushed back in a rare public display of disagreement, claiming that a ceasefire would only allow Hamas to regroup and carry out more attacks on Israel. He was standing next to his counterparts from Jordan and Egypt.

Four weeks after Hamas terrorists broke through the border into Israel, killing 1,400 people and taking over 240 hostages, Blinken met with the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt, and Jordan in Amman.

Since then, Israel has attacked Gaza from the air, imposed a siege, and begun a ground offensive, raising concerns about the humanitarian situation in the enclave and, according to Gaza health officials on Saturday, killing over 9,488 Palestinians.

Ayman Safadi, the foreign minister of Jordan, stated at the press conference, “Right now we have to make sure that this war stops.”

While acknowledging that there were differences between Washington and its allies—Washington has only called for pauses to allow aid into Gaza—Blinken said that everyone was in agreement that peace was necessary and that the current status quo in Gaza could not continue.

“On my second visit to the area since Israel and Hamas went to war, a ceasefire now would just leave Hamas in place, able to regroup and repeat what it did on October 7,” Blinken told reporters. “No nation, none of us would accept that.”

Witnesses from Palestine claimed that early on Saturday, Israel attacked the Al-Fakhoura school in Jabalia, which was housing thousands of evacuees.

The Israeli military claimed that although it had not targeted the area, a preliminary investigation had indicated that “IDF fire aimed at another target may have caused the explosion.” The incident’s circumstances are being investigated.”

According to Juliette Touma, director of communication for UNRWA, the organisation that oversees the school in Gaza is run by the United Nations.

Two women were killed by an Israeli missile strike at the entrance to the Nasser Children Hospital, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health. It said that several more people had been hurt. Israel did not react to that report right away.

The largest of several refugee settlements in Gaza, the Jabalia camp, has been severely damaged by a series of reported airstrikes over the past week, killing at least 195 people, according to Palestinian authorities.

(With agency inputs)