American and Israeli negotiators will meet in Qatar “in the coming days” to prepare for the resumption of ceasefire talks in the Gaza Strip, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken announced. He also announced that the United States would provide an additional $135 million in humanitarian aid to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
The United States, Qatar and Egypt are mediating the months-long talks between Israel and Hamas, which have not yielded results yet.
After the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar last week, the United States resumed efforts to mediate a ceasefire, seeing it as an opportunity to revive talks. Before his trip to Qatar, Blinken visited Riyadh and Jerusalem and asked the Israeli authorities to implement a ceasefire.
Blinken said on Thursday that he had discussed the resumption of negotiations with the authorities of Qatar and Egypt, and that the meeting between the United States and Israel in this context would take place “in the coming days”.
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Anthony Blinken SERGEY DOLZHENKO/PAP/EPA
Mohammad bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, the Prime Minister of Qatar, said after the meeting with the US Secretary of State, that his country will also try to “progress in the negotiations”. He added that after Sinwar's murder, Qatari authorities “established contact” with Hamas leaders in Doha.
What will happen to the cease-fire agreement in Gaza? Angelika Maj/Fakty o Świecie TVN24 BiS
$135 million for humanitarian aid
Blinken also announced that the US will provide an additional $135 million in humanitarian aid to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. He added that the total amount of US aid to the Palestinians since the beginning of the war in the Gaza Strip is 1 billion 200 million dollars.
The US Secretary of State said that Israel has made progress in the possibility of increasing the delivery of humanitarian aid to the region. However, he stressed that the Israeli authorities should do more on this issue. Last week, the United States called on Israel to improve the humanitarian situation of the population of Gaza, noting that failure could lead to a reduction in military aid.
Blinken emphasized that the United States does not want Israel's operation in Lebanon to turn into a long campaign. Israel has been heavily bombarding Lebanon for a month and has been conducting ground operations in the south of the country for more than three weeks, declaring that the purpose of these operations is to eliminate the threat of Hezbollah with the support of Iran.
The US is pushing for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas Giustina Kazimerczak/Fakti o Świecie TVN24 BiS
Main photo source: MOHAMMED SABER/PAP/EPA
